[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 14: The Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh

02.12.2017

Session 19

Character level: 6^th

After departing from the sceaduinar the Ruby Scarabs returned to the priests’ living area where they had fought with the crypt thing. There was a set of doors they had yet to open, which they had already learned were magically enhanced. Kaa checked the doors for traps and found none. The doors were securely locked, and after several attempts the tengu was unable to unlock them. Even a prayer to Pharasma didn’t provide any assistance. Igby realized that the magical effect on the doors was an abjuration effect, which likely was contributing to the difficulty in picking the lock. At this point Azzaria decided it was time for a different approach. She took out her adamantine flail and bashed the doors open. This dissipated the magic effect, confirming Igby’s opinion.

On the other side of the doors lay a short staircase leading down. At the bottom of the stairs could be seen a small fountain, and beyond it a pair of stone feet. When the Scarabs descended the stairs they found themselves in a small antechamber that was unusually quiet, its vaulted ceiling muffling the sound of the burbling water from the fountain at its center. On either side of the chamber a pit appeared. On the opposite side of the fountain from the stairs stood a tall statue of Anubis and another door. As the Scarabs had already had an unpleasant encounter with a ‘statue’ that turned out to be a magical construct beneath the Sanctum of the Erudite Eye, they were wary when they realized that the statue of Anubis blocked the doors exiting from the opposite side of the antechamber. They also noticed that the statue didn’t stand on a base or plinth, which made them even more suspicious of it.

As soon as the Scarabs entered the antechamber, the statue moved, clearly casting a spell. Several members of the group realized that the spell was one that would increase the construct’s speed, which was also familiar from the construct in the temple of Nethys. Azzaria, remembering how that construct had actually taken her life, stepped forward to swing her flail at the figure of Anubis. Igby chanted a blessing. Sula realized that her weapons and Nyema’s fangs and claws would be of no use against the construct, so she called on the spirit of lightning to blast the construct from above. Kaa swung his fists at the figure but his blows didn’t connect, and he was rewarded by a return blow from the construct. Sula brought another lightning bolt down on its head. Igby moved forward to strike it, but like Kaa he couldn’t make a mark on it. Then Azzaria’s flail struck it full in the chest. The construct’s torso cracked in two and the upper half fell into one of the pits. The statue ceased moving.

The Scarabs were surprised by how quickly they had been able to defeat the construct. But they returned their attention to exploring the underground structure. The door that the statue had guarded bore an inscription in the language of the celestial beings, which none of them could read. Uto took out a tablet he carried that could allow a person to read such languages and read the inscription. It stated that if a supplicant put a piece of silver worth 50 gold pieces in the fountain, it would transform the water into holy water. Uto was carrying the 30 silver rods taken from the pool in the first underground room they had entered, and he knew that these rods were worth about 50 gold. He put one of them in the fountain basin and filled two water skins with the resulting holy water.

The door the construct had guarded was not locked. The Scarabs looked through it into a large circular room with a platform in the center in the form of a truncated pyramid. An elevated walkway ran around the perimeter of the room, beside columns carved in the shape of Pharasma. The circular chamber’s floor was scattered with corpses, some that looked very old and others more recent. On the platform, seated on a throne-like chair, was a living man wearing a golden funerary mask that bore an unusually animated expression.

When he saw the intruders the man rose to his feet, demanding, “Why are there always interruptions?” He gestured and two mummies moved to stand at his sides. Then a pulse of energy issued from the platform, and many of the bodies on the floor rose to their feet and began to shuffle toward the Ruby Scarabs. The masked man, who the Scarabs assumed to be Nebtah-Khufre, rose into the air, his hands moving in spellcasting gestures that they recognized as the same spell of haste that the construct in the antechamber had used. Sula still had access to the lightning she had called on the construct, so she sent a bolt at Nebtah-Khufre.

The two mummies rushed forward with unnatural speed to confront the group at the doorway. The aura of despair they carried with them paralyzed Sula, leaving her helpless, though she was still able to control the lightning. Nyema and her comrades were able to resist the mummies’ aura. Wings suddenly sprouted from Kaa’s back, but before the tengu could take flight one of the mummies struck him and he collapsed. Uto drew a spell scroll from his pack and began to read it.

Nebtah-Khufre swooped toward the party at the doorway and spoke the words of another spell, but none of the Scarabs could recognize it. The floor beneath them transformed into molten glass, scorching everyone and then cooling to form knife-like shards of obsidian. As the glass cooled it trapped their legs. Most of the group were able to break free by exerting their strength, but Sula was still paralyzed and remained trapped in the solidified glass. Once Nyema pulled herself free the lioness began to claw at the glass encasing her master’s feet.

Uto completed reading the spell from his scroll. In the air near Nebtah-Khufre a winged figure wielding a scythe appeared, a vanth psychopomp that Uto had summoned. It immediately attacked the mummy standing nearest to Azzaria, for its mandate was to slay undead. Uto then sent a wave of positive energy to heal his companions of the burns inflicted by the molten glass. In the meantime more zombies approached the Scarabs and Igby killed one, while the vanth slew another.

Nebtah-Khufre shot a ray of energy at the vanth but it had no effect. Uto issued another wave of healing energy, restoring the paralyzed Sula to full health. Kaa, who had been rendered near death by the mummy’s attack and the molten glass, was able to regain his feet. Nebtah-Khufre summoned two balls of lightning and sent them at Azzaria and Igby, but Igby resisted the magic and one sphere vanished.

Though it left his own health much depleted, Uto healed his friends again. Kaa flew into the circular chamber, blasting Nebtah-Khufre with scorching flames, but his attack seemed to have no effect on the necromancer. Nebtah-Khufre flew up beside Kaa and send out a burst of gray energy that made everyone’s heart race with fear, though all but Igby were able to withstand the desire to flee. Only Igby panicked and raced out of the room. Nyema had clawed Sula free of the obsidian, but even though the druid had been trapped and paralyzed, she had been able to shower three more lightning bolts on Nebtah-Khufre. Now the paralyzing effect faded and Sula was able to move again.

The vanth destroyed the last remaining zombie and flew up to attack Nebtah-Khufre. Kaa struck the necromancer a blow that stunned him, causing him to drop the gilded femur he held. The vanth then attacked him again, followed by another attack from Kaa. The necromancer’s skin had a stony appearance, so the group concentrated on causing damage to deplete his magical protection. Nebtah-Khufre responded by drawing a wand and issuing a charge from it at the vanth, but it again had no effect on the psychopomp. Sula could not reach the flying necromancer with her usual weapons, so she took out her sling and hurled a stone at him.

Uto’s hair shot out and grabbed hold of Nebtah-Khufre. As his was held in the grip of the hair, Kaa pummeled him until he fell unconscious and began to float gently toward the floor. Uto wanted to question him about the Forgotten Pharaoh, so he used his magic to prevent the necromancer from bleeding to death, then bound him. Igby recovered from his fear and returned, covered in blue tile shards. He fastened manacles on the captive. Afterward, they searched Nebtah-Khufre and removed everything he carried. He had on his person two curative potions; a spell scroll; a wand; a magic ring; a wizard’s spellbook; a pouch of diamond dust; a quantity of onyx stones used for raising zombies; holy symbols of Anubis, Pharasma, and Urgathoa; and the gold mask he wore over his face.

While the group searched him, Nebtah-Khufre expired. Uto realized that he must have been fortifying himself with magic, and that had ceased, leading to his death by the wounds he had suffered. Further examination of the room revealed that an ornate sarcophagus on the platform had been desecrated. It seemed that Nebtah-Khufre had been trying to raise the occupant of the sarcophagus as an especially powerful mummy. The Scarabs used some of the holy water from the fountain to clean the sarcophagus as best they could. In the process they realized it was the sarcophagus of the original Nakht Shepses, ancestor of the priest they knew.

The Scarabs gathered up Nebtah-Khufre’s body and the items they had taken from him and left the Observatory. They were able to return to Wati without difficulty, and took the body to the Grand Mausoleum. Shortly afterward the most senior priests of the temple were summoned to hear the story the Ruby Scarabs told. Two high priests from the temple of Nethys also came to hear. The priests had never heard of the Forgotten Pharaoh and could not explain why Nebtah-Khufre was so interested in acquiring his mask. When they examined the mask they found that it contained the ka spirit of a powerful person, probably a pharaoh, but they did not understand how such an artifact could be made. The mask revealed that it had different properties depending upon whether the wearer was a person of a good or evil nature. It could also be used to raise the dead, which was clearly how Nebtah-Khufre had raised the zombies in the circular chamber. The priests also identified all of the other magical items the Scarabs had taken from the necromancer.

The priests could not agree on what should be done with the mask. They argued over it for two days. At last they called the Scarabs back to the Grand Mausoleum, and asked if they would take charge of it and research the Forgotten Pharaoh. They recommended that the Scarabs go to the nearby city of Tephu, which had an extensive library that might hold information about the mask’s mysterious owner. Kaa then asked if the priests would pay them for that service. This led to a long discussion of how many valuable items the Scarabs had taken from the Necropolis and whether the temples ought to at least give them enough gold to pay for the river ferry to Tephu. Nakht Shepses also expressed displeasure that they had taken the magical shield from his family altar under the Observatory, though he hadn’t known it existed prior to their showing it to him. The Scarabs pointed out that they were willing to return it to him, but Sebti the Crocodile suggested that they ought to keep it as part of their reward for removing the necromancer from the Shepses family mortuary temple.   

In the end, the Scarabs kept the shield and all of the things they had taken from the Observatory and from Nebtah-Khufre. In addition the temples gave them 100 gold pieces to pay for the ferry to Tephu. Though the adventurers found it strange that they should have the responsibility of finding out just who the Forgotten Pharaoh was, they accepted it and agreed that they would pursue the answer to that question.

Loot:

2 potions of cure light wounds

Scroll of stinking cloud

Ring of sustenance

Spellbook

Diamond dust worth 500 gold

Onyxes worth 500 gold

Silver holy symbol of Anubis

Silver holy symbol of Pharasma

Silver unholy symbol of Urgathoa

Rod of lesser disruptive metamagic

Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh

Next: Part 15, Visit to the Grand Library

Star Wars - Episode 54: "Destinies"

(February 11, 2017) Episode 54: "Destinies"

Recap: The Jedi and their Antarian Ranger allies had been summoned by the Rebel Alliance to assist in an attack on the second Death Star, currently under construction in orbit around the forest moon of Endor. Dash Creel and Chewbacca took a small team of Rangers and joined the Rebel fleet aboard the Sky River Venture, prepared to attack the Death Star as soon as the shield was down. Neranya Repp and her padawan Taanar Ryl, along with their comrade ADX and companions Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and C3PO, traveled with a second team of rangers to the surface of the forest moon, using a stolen Imperial shuttle and access codes to get past its defenses. Once the strike team arrived on the moon they were captured by the indigenous native Ewoks and taken to an Ewok village. Only Taanar managed to avoid capture. She remained in hiding and followed her companions to the village.

The indigenous creatures seemed particularly interested in C3PO and ADX, and instead of binding C3PO, they carried him to their village in a sedan chair. The party was joined by Neri and Lowarra when the natives they had met in the forest escorted them to the same village. Neri asked the protocol droid if he could communicate with the natives, and he was able to find a dialect in his memory that allowed him to converse with the creatures. He learned that the Ewoks, as they called themselves, believed the intruders to be associated with the "whiteshells," who they blamed for destroying their sacred forest. C3PO struggled to convince them that the group were enemies of the Imperial troops, until Neri used her Force power to levitate the sedan chair. The Ewoks were so impressed by this that they released their prisoners, and the strike team were able to recruit them to help with the attack on the shield generator's defenses. ADX designed a strategy to have the Ewoks distract the Imperial troops guarding the bunker that housed the generator. Taanar, who had been hiding in the forest outside the village looking for an opportunity to rescue her friends, then rejoined the group.

Then Luke Skywalker told Neri that he sensed the presence of Darth Vader, and also of his sister Leia. Despite this, he wanted to continue with the mission to destroy the generator before trying to rescue her. Neri searched her feelings for the best choice, finally recommending that Luke and Han Solo go to rescue Leia while the rest of the team continued on to the generator. Lowarra then suggested that Neri go with them, believing that she, ADX, Taanar and the Rangers were sufficient to take care of the generator.

As the two groups prepared to separate, the three Jedi suddenly felt a cold and deadly sensation coming from the Ewok village they had just left. It could only be the presence of Darth Vader and the Emperor. Luke immediately wanted to go to confront his father. It was quickly decided that ADX should instead go along with the Jedi group to face Vader and rescue Leia. The droid had a score to settle with Vader since the Sith Lord had completely destroyed his original body.

Before the two groups parted, Neri gave Taanar some encouragement. As Taanar and Lowarra headed toward the shield generator with their Ewok guides, Taanar felt the malevolent presence of the Emperor recede behind her.

Neri and Luke felt fear and pain emanating from the Ewok village as they approached it. Luke realized that the Emperor and Darth Vader were killing the Ewok women, children and elders. They rushed toward the village. As they arrived, they could see that the Emperor had been accompanied by a squad of stormtroopers and an AT-ST walker. The village was full of Ewok corpses and smoke as their tree houses burned. The presence of the Dark Side was heavy in the atmosphere. They spied the Emperor standing with an unconscious Leia at his feet. Neri told Luke, "Don't do it with hate and malice. Do it with love."

The generator demolition team had learned from the Ewoks that there was an AT-ST by the bunker as well, and Lowarra already had plans to commandeer it. When the team neared the bunker, the Ewoks were sent in to draw the walker and troopers away from the bunker.  Lowarra climbed a tree ahead of the AT-ST, carrying Taanar on her back. As the pursuing walker passed below Lowarra dropped on top of it. Because its roof was slightly angled the pair nearly slipped off, but managed to catch hold of the side of the vehicle and hang on.

Luke Skywalker stepped forward to address his father, trying to persuade Darth Vader to stop supporting the Emperor and abandon the Dark Side. While he spoke, the Emperor addressed Neri with contempt, implying that he had ordered the capture, torture, and deaths of her parents. In response, ADX fired on the Emperor, who easily negated the energy from the blaster.

 Taanar released her grip on Lowarra and used her Force power to propel herself in a high arc over the Wookiee's head. landing on top of the AT-ST cockpit with her lightsaber already ignited so she could stab it through the vehicle's shell. She was surprised when the vehicle pilot popped up out of the cockpit and fired his blaster at her, hitting her at point-blank range. Lowarra scrambled up onto the top of the walker, roaring in the pilot's face, and slammed his head against the hatch with such force that he was knocked unconscious. The co-pilot then found himself slammed against the wall a moment later by Taanar's Force thrust. The walker, with no one at the controls, careened into a tree, but Lowarra and Taanar hung on.

In orbit around the moon, the Rebel fleet engaged the Imperial defenses as they waited for the planetary shield to fall. The Sky River Venture faced numerous TIE fighters, aided by the Rebel Alliance Phoenix and Gold squadrons. The sky above the forest filled with small explosions as Imperial and Rebel spacecraft were destroyed.

 After ADX's attack on him, the Emperor turned to ADX and ARD-001 and spoke in a strange language. As it dawned on ADX that this was some Sith command word, he felt himself lose control of his own choices. The Emperor had ordered both him and ARD to attack their friends. ADX was helpless to resist for a moment, as he had chosen to deactivate his sentience to avoid being subject to mind tricks. When the Emperor ordered, "Kill the interlopers," however, ADX interpreted the stormtroopers as interlopers and fired on one of them. Then his heuristic logic circuits recognized that the best way to overcome his Sith programming was to be a sentient, free-willed being. He reactivated his sentience and the Emperor's control over him vanished. Unfortunately ARD hadn't yet achieved sentience and fired on Neri, who was forced to withdraw. At the same time, an Inquisitor that the Venture crew had encountered before appeared and began to attack Neri.

Lowarra clambered through the hatch into the cockpit of the AT-ST and steered it back on course, heading back toward the stormtroopers defending the generator bunker. The Rangers took cover in the forest and kept firing on the troopers, while Lowarra began to fire the AT-ST's light blaster cannons. Taanar grabbed the co-pilot with her Force power and sent him flying out the hatch, where he was swarmed by angry Ewoks.

Neri was now under attack by the Inquisitor, while Luke and Darth Vader had abandoned conversation and begun to fight. The Emperor began to exhort Luke to release his anger and kill his father, at the same time ordering ARD to destroy ADX when he realized that the sentient droid was not under his control.

A massive flash of green energy struck one of the Mon Calamari ships battling the Imperial vessels around the Death Star. The beam barely missed the Venture. Dash realized with horror that though the Death Star was unfinished, its main weapon was fully functional. She signaled her allies that everyone should stay out of range of its weapon and close in on the Imperial capital ships to prevent them from being able to target the Rebel vessels.

ARD was ruthlessly firing on ADX, and inflicting considerable damage. Neri attempted to disarm the Inquisitor but failed. Luke was sent flying as Darth Vader leaped onto a tree stump. The Inquisitor grabbed Neri with the Force and began to choke her. As she saw Luke struggling and faced her own possible death, Neri suddenly realized that she had fallen in love with Luke. Desperate to help him, she sent thoughts of love to him through the Force. Encouraged by this, Luke sent the Inquisitor hurtling away from Neri to slam into a tree trunk.

The Venture was under attack by four TIE fighters. As it took damage, Dash fired back. In the distance she could see the New Hope pounding one of the Imperial star destroyers. The Death Star fired on a frigate in the Rebel fleet, lighting up the sky below with another flare of green energy.

While Lowarra gleefully blasted troopers with the light cannons, Taanar attempted to operate the AT-ST's heavy cannon and managed to hit another trooper herself. Lowarra then steered the walker to trample on a trooper who couldn't get out of the way as she headed closer to the bunker. Only two stormtroopers stood guard in front of the bunker's heavy entrance doors. Lowarra blasted them both aside and positioned the vehicle directly in front of the doors. Then, instructing Taanar to blast the doors with the heavy cannon, she jumped out of the vehicle and went out to engage in hand-to-hand with the remaining troopers on the ground.

The Inquisitor recovered from being smashed against a tree and tried to hit Neri but missed. The Emperor and Darth Vader both began to attack Luke, so Neri used the Force to shove Vader forward, causing him to collide with the Emperor. This gave Luke only a temporary respite, as the Emperor then began to blast him wit Dark Side lightning. At that moment Leia revived and got to her feet, causing the Emperor to turn on her and blast her as well.

Dash was relieved when Wedge Antilles arrived to help her take on the TIE fighters. Her expert piloting skills allowed her to dodge two fighters and cause them to collide with each other.

As the Emperor attacked Leia, Luke called out to Darth Vader, telling him that this was his twin sister. This news seemed to be the stroke that changed Vader's mind. Vader turned on the Emperor and began to attack him instead of Luke. Neri then reached out toward the Emperor and severed his connection with the Force. His uncounted crimes made it easier for her to succeed. Suddenly bereft of his access to the Force, the Emperor was able to negate Luke's attack but couldn't defend himself when Vader drove his red lightsaber blade through the old man's chest.

Taanar fired the heavy blaster at the bunker doors from point-blank range and the doors shattered. Lowarra ran inside and her rykkblade made short work of the troopers within. She and the Rangers raced to place the charges, and then the whole group fled into the forest as the bunker exploded, destroying the generator and the dish that projected the shield toward the Death Star.

Neri took a moment to catch her breath, then summoned her power again and sent the Inquisitor flying a tremendous distance into the forest. The Emperor's body began to crumble, radiating a purple energy. ADX finally managed to stop ARD, but was in such bad condition himself that he had to crawl to cover to avoid the AT-ST and begin trying to repair himself. Neri then grabbed the AT-ST and smashed it against a tree.

Dash could see that the New Hope had taken some damage. Just as she observed this, the shield around the Death Star suddenly went down. She headed the Venture toward the now defenseless station, followed by Wedge's squadron. TIE fighters took out several of her fighter escort as they headed for the power coupling they knew would cause its reactor to go critical if destroyed. One last TIE fighter threatened to prevent that from happening, but at the last possible moment it was destroyed and Dash was able to fire proton torpedoes into the coupling and speed away before the Death Star exploded in a ball of flames and a hail of fragments.

The sky lit up as the Death Star blew apart, and the Rangers and Ewoks began to cheer. But the battle wasn't over, and the struggle to transform the Empire had yet to begin.

With the Emperor dead, Darth Vader turned to Luke Skywalker and asked his son to join him in taking control of the Empire. He stated that he only wanted to bring peace and stability, and would put an end to the worst of the Imperial excesses instituted by Palpatine, who he believed had been trying to accumulate enough Dark Side energy to become a god-like being. He argued that without the Empire, the galaxy would fall into violence and chaos. Neri, reluctant to believe in his good intentions, begged Luke to say with her. But Luke wanted to go with his father, who he said was the only person who had ever been completely honest with him. Neri couldn't deny that; she and her friends had kept Leia's relationship to him a secret for some time. Of the Venture crew only Lowarra had been truthful with Luke, and Lowarra wasn't there to try to sway him. When Luke stated that he wanted to remain with his father, ADX mistrustfully fired on Vader, who negated the blaster energy but did not retaliate.

Leia then sought Neri's advice - should they continue to fight, or accept Vader's compromise? Vader had suggested that he would allow the Republic to reform in the Outer Rim. Neri searched her feelings, and decided that Vader's idea was the best option to avoid civil war and further destruction. Vader could take care of the various warlords and moffs who would try to take power in the Emperor's absence, while the Alliance could go about reestablishing the fallen Republic. As the last princess of Alderaan, Leia could help to persuade the Rebel Alliance to agree to the truce, and she hoped that Luke would be able to steer Vader away from the Dark Side. After telling Leia what she thought, Neri approached Luke, gave him a kiss on the lips, and sadly walked away into the forest.

The End.

Star Wars - Episode 53: "Many Bothans Have Died"

(January 21, 2017) Episode 53: "Many Bothans Have Died"

The Venture, Millenium Falcon, and Wamp Rat all rendezvoused with the Rebel fleet, where their crews were taken to a briefing room to meet with Mon Mothma and most of the Rebel high command. There, Mon Mothma told them about the second Death Star under construction near Endor’s forest moon. Suddenly Neri heard Luke whisper, “Leia’s on the forest moon.”

Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar went on to explain that they wanted the Jedi and Rangers to disable the shield generator on the forest moon, which would otherwise prevent any attack on the incomplete Death Star. Meanwhile a fleet of Rebel fighters would fly into the Death Star’s partially-open structure to destroy it. It was agreed that Dash and Chewbacca would join the fighters in the attack on the Death Star while the remainder of the companions would land on the forest moon to attack the shield generator, using a stolen Imperial shuttle disguised as a cargo ship to get past the Imperial defenses.

As the team headed for the forest moon prepared to board their shuttle, Neri was surprised when Princess Leia’s protocol droid C3PO suddenly approached her and asked to be allowed to join the mission. After a moment of consideration, Neri agreed, much to ADX’s annoyance, as C3PO had developed a strange attraction to the hardened battle droid. While this took place, Lowarra promised Chewbacca that she would look after Han Solo, who was going with the team to the moon. Han seemed especially concerned about Princess Leia's safety. It began to appear that Neri’s long struggle to follow Yoda’s direction and bring Han and Leia together was finally working.

Luke’s mood was subdued as the team gathered. He had told Neri and the others that Leia was probably with the Emperor himself, as Rebel intelligence indicated the Emperor was present at Endor. Neri then tried to use the Force to give some non-verbal encouragement. She noticed with surprise and amusement that C3PO had brought an overstuffed pack, including an assortment of thermal detonators, which delighted Lowarra. Neri then gave a short speech to the Rangers: “We did it before, we can do it again. May the Force be with you.”

As Dash and Chewie prepared to head off to the Sky River Venture, Dash gave Han a hug and told him, “I’ll buy you a drink when we get back.” Han replied, “If you blow up the Death Star I’ll buy you two drinks!” Lowarra gave Dash a big hug, and ADX exhorted her, “Maintain your biological integrity.”

As the strike team approached the unfinished Death Star, they observed the largest star destroyer they had ever seen in orbit nearby. Neri, Luke and Taanar all felt something trying to scan them through the Force, but it passed.

They made their way past the Imperial defenses without difficulty and landed on the forest moon of Endor. Shortly after they left their shuttle to head toward the shield generator they encountered a stormtrooper who took them by surprise. Lowarra dealt with him, but an instant later they discovered that he had a companion, who fled on a speeder bike. Neri and Lowarra jumped on the bike left by the trooper Lowarra had eliminated and set off on a high-speed pursuit to prevent the second trooper from giving their presence away. It didn’t take long for the two old friends to get rid of the second trooper, but more troopers arrived.

As the speeder bikes raced through the trees, Lowarra leaped from Neri’s bike to one of the other speeders and clung on. Neri caused one trooper’s blaster to fly out of his hands. A trooper tried to sideswipe Neri with his bike. Lowarra lost her grip on the speeder bike and fell off. Neri jumped off her bike and attacked the troopers with her lightsaber. One trooper dodged her, but she then shot him with her blaster and his bike crashed.

While Neri and Lowarra battled the stormtroopers in the forest, the rest of the strike team continued on toward the shield generator. Their journey was impeded when ADX was suddenly caught in a net trap. Another trap engulfed everyone else but Taanar. Taanar hid in the brush and watched as a group of small, furry beings wielding spears emerged from the forest to claim their prisoners. The indigenous natives seemed especially interested in C3PO and ADX, but failed to observe Taanar. A moment later she received a telepathic message from Neri: “I’m okay.” Taanar quickly sent back, “Everyone captured but me.”

Lowarra had been stunned by her fall from the bike, but she recovered and she and Neri began walking toward each other to meet. Lowarra was fired upon by a bow-wielding small furry being, which seemed not to care that the Wookiee looked like a larger version of itself. Neri was also accosted by one of the natives. She tried offering it some food, which it didn’t like, but despite that she was able to establish a somewhat friendly rapport with the creature. 

Star Wars - Episode 52: "A Princess Found"

(November 12, 2016) Episode 52: "A Princess Found”

As the members of the Antarian Rangers and New Jedi Order surveyed Golas Aram’s compound on Irudiru, they observed that he had top-notch security measures in place. The compound was surrounded by laser fences and disguised laser turrets, which enclosed a rock garden and a stone structure. Despite the clear message indicating that Aram didn’t want visitors, the group decided to attempt to contact him. Their attempts were unsuccessful. Aram didn’t respond.

Finally they decided to park their speeder in the landing area nearby. As they exited the speeder, a voice speaking Batchi told them to go away. Neri introduced herself courteously, but the entrance to the compound remained closed. Neri then offered to pay a significant sum for the information they sought. Just as she did this she spotted a vehicle powering up, and the laser fence activated. The group members sprang back into their speeder to pursue the departing vehicle.

As the pursuit began, the Millenium Falcon unexpectedly arrived to block the fleeing vehicle’s path. Neri approached what they presumed to be Golas Arum’s ship and rapped on the cockpit with the hilt of her lightsaber. When Arum still refused to come out, Neri cut her way in. Arum, who turned out to be occupying a hoverchair, revealed that he was afraid to talk. Neri told him who the team sought, and finally her persuasiveness won him over. Arum told her that Princess Leia was probably being held at Ashmead’s Lock - an alien spacecraft that had crashed long ago in the Blighted Lands of Kashyyk and had been converted into an Imperial prison facility. Chewbacca was very distressed when he heard this, as most Wookiees had spent their childhoods being told of the terrors of the Blighted Lands. Lowarra tried to soothe his fears.

Arum told Neri that he would give her the access codes to enter Ashmead’s Lock, and then produced a holdout blaster and fired at her! Neri used her Force power to negate the energy of the shot. The group then returned to Golas Arum’s compound, taking Arum with them as his own ship was too damaged to fly. A fire had started in a hangar bay and ADX extinguished it.

After leaving Arum, the group planned their strategy for accessing the prison ship on Kashyyk. Han Solo and Chewbacca would use the Millenium Falcon to distract the Imperial troops stationed on the planet so that the Sky River Venture could land.

When the Venture arrived in the Blighted Lands, they found it a very desolate and silent place. Abandoned watchtowers loomed over the barren wasteland. Lowarra told her friends that this part of Kashyyk had been barren for more than a thousand years, ever since the spacecraft crashed there. The team walked from the Venture’s landing site to the ship known as Ashmead’s Lock. They had no difficulty entering the mysterious alien vessel. Inside they found the remains of several droids that had been destroyed by what appeared to be lightsaber damage. Then more droids arrived, welcoming the new arrivals to the “processing unit.” ADX fired on them immediately. One of the droids grabbed Neri but was unable to maintain its grasp on the Jedi. She used the Force to send it hurtling away from her. Dash began firing on the droids also, but discovered that her blaster’s charge had been drained. Taanar used the Force to thrust another droid into a door on the far side of the chamber. A third droid grappled ADX. Then a gas began to fill the area, causing all of the humanoids to weaken.

From behind the droids, a lightsaber suddenly flared as Luke Skywalker appeared, shattering one droid with his blade. Neri dispatched another droid and Taanar smashed a third against the wall. Lowarra flew into a rage. ADX blasted the droid Taanar had knocked back, and Lowarra sent the last remaining droid back to its manufacturer in pieces. But now the group members found that they couldn’t open the door to exit the chamber. They were startled when a red lightsaber blade penetrated it from the opposite side, and Luke’s comrade ARD-101 emerged, calling out to Luke that Princess Leia was no longer in the prison facility.

There were several organic beings following ARD. These were the other prisoners of Ashmead’s Lock, who had been released by the droid. But Princess Leia had been moved to another location just before her would-be rescuers had arrived.

As the disappointed group headed back to their ships, they saw TIE fighters arriving to stop their escape. Stormtroopers with jetpacks also appeared. The rest of the group went to hold off the Imperial troops while Luke got the freed prisoners to safety. Lowarra brought down a TIE fighter with a rocket. Neri caused another pilot to crash his ship out of terror. Taanar was wounded when she couldn’t find cover. The Millenium Falcon then arrived to pursue the TIE fighters. Once the Wamp Rat was away with its cargo of former prisoners, the others saw star destroyers arriving and quickly made their escape.

After the rest of the group rendezvoused with the Millenium Falcon, they were met by the rest of the Antarian Rangers. They avoided the TIE fighters patrolling Kashyyk and left the planet again. After they reached open space, they received a coded transmission from the Rebel Alliance: they were needed for a vital mission.

Tail of a Tale (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion)

I was a fan of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion when it was originally released back in 2006. I spent many hours playing it. when Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released, I eagerly picked that up, and have spend many hours playing it as well. But I always missed Oblivion. Skyrim added new features to gameplay, like the ability to have a companion to help your character fight and carry loot, and the ability to purchase and furnish a private home instead of housing your stuff at a guild. But there was something special about Oblivion. The map territory you could explore seemed more expansive, your character's appearance was more customizable, and the mysterious Ayleid ruins were always appealing to me. 

I thought my opportunity to play Oblivion was lost when we purchased an Xbox One console. When my husband discovered that Oblivion can be played on Xbox One, I was delighted. He downloaded the game (no more disk to keep track of!) and we started playing it right away, just a few days ago. 

My inclination has always been to play elves in Elder scrolls games. I've tried a few other races, but I always end up abandoning those characters and going back to my elves. But last year my husband discovered a YouTube channel featuring the humorous adventures of Kaybe the Dragon-Boxing Khajit, a Skyrim character whose creator had recorded her adventures and supplied in-character narration. Kaybe's speech pattern is very amusing to my husband and I, as well as her cat-like behavior of constantly knocking things off tables wherever she goes. When I started my first new Oblivion character for Xbox One, I decided to make her a Khajit, partly to try something new and partly in honor of Kaybe.

After I'd played the character through the game's tutorial, I found myself thinking about the character's adventures as if she was similar to Kaybe. Khajit aren't common in Cyrodiil, the setting of Oblivion, or in Skyrim. The few Khajit NPCs you meet do have unique accents and speech patterns. There is even a random Khajit NPC you can encounter in Skyrim, M'aiq the Liar, who will say humorous dialogue if you trigger his conversation option. Inspired by Kaybe and M'aiq, I decided to write a short description of my character's first adventure. For color I'm working with the conceit that she doesn't speak the local language well, and that Khajit don't use personal pronouns or definite/indefinite articles. The periodic ending of a sentence with "yes" is openly borrowed from Kaybe.

Tale of a Tail

Ahdani is in prison. Why is Ahdani in prison? She took only small fish. She was hungry. She is still hungry, yes. Cell is cold and damp and there is no food. Across the way is nasty man, nasty elf maybe, yes. He says guards will not feed Ahdani, let her starve. He is not nice. He says guards come to kill Ahdani. Ahdani wants to laugh at him, he is in cell, too, yes. But he speaks truth, guards come. Guards come to Ahdani’s cell. Guards have big swords.

Old man is with guards. Old man has pretty robes. Ahdani likes, yes. Old man says he knows Ahdani, he saw Ahdani before, in dream. He also says he is emperor. Ahdani does not know. Ahdani has not seen emperor before. Maybe old man is mad. But guards say he is emperor too, yes. Old man says he will die soon, says it is destiny Ahdani is in cell. Ahdani thinks he is crazy, but he is nice to Ahdani, yes.

Guards tell Ahdani to get back, then part of stone wall opens up. There is tunnel. Ahdani did not know there was tunnel. If Ahdani knew there was tunnel, Ahdani would leave, yes. Guards and old man go in tunnel. Guards do not close wall, do not tell Ahdani to stay, so Ahdani goes in tunnel too, yes. Too bad Ahdani cannot laugh at mean elf.

Tunnel goes down. Then red men with big swords attack guards. Lady guard dies. Ahdani picks up her sword, yes. Other guards do not care. Guards do not like Ahdani, but old man says he trusts Ahdani. When red men die, their swords disappear. It is very strange to Ahdani. She searches bodies, but red robe men have nothing, only robes. Old man’s guards open door, but do not wait for Ahdani. When door closes it locks. Ahdani cannot open it. Ahdani is alone, yes.

Ahdani sees there is hole in wall, stones fell out. Ahdani goes through hole. Under building, big stone pillars, smells of dirt. Rats try to bite Ahdani. Ahdani stabs them with guard lady’s sword, yes. Ahdani finds chest. It is locked, but Ahdani can open. Good things in chest. Ahdani can sell for gold septims, buy fish, yes.

Ahdani finds wooden door. Dead goblin by door. Goblin has good things too, yes. Door not locked. More pillars beyond, more dirt. Ahdani kills more rats, finds more chests. Ahdani wonders why chests are here, maybe goblin put them there, yes. Ahdani finds nasty, nasty ghoul. Ahdani kills it with magic fire, yes. More tunnels, more rats, more chests. Ahdani has too many things, cannot carry more. She must put down things, so sad, not so many septims for Ahdani.

Tunnels are dirt now, not stone. Ahdani finds more goblins. Ahdani is clever and sneaky, she kills goblins before they see her, kills them with fire. Two goblins stand at bottom of slope, top of slope is stack of logs. Ahdani kicks logs, logs roll down, crush goblins. Goblins are stupid, yes. Goblins have many, many good things, Ahdani cannot carry them all.

Ahdani finds stone wall, wall has hole. Ahdani hears voices through hole. Ahdani jumps through hole, finds guards and old man! Ahdani thinks she is in tunnels long time, how are guards still here? No matter, old man is glad to see Ahdani, yes. Guards think she is helping red robe men, old man says no. Guards go to check ahead, old man talks to Ahdani about stars, which star is Ahdani's star. Ahdani's star is Warrior. This is good, yes.

Ahdani follows guards and old man to room, but door is locked. Guards have no key. Guards hear red robe men coming, one guard goes to fight, one guard stays with old man. Old man comes to Ahdani, tells her he thinks now he dies, gives her amulet. Old man says give amulet to Jauffre man, Jauffre man will give to emperor’s son. Old man is nice to Ahdani, yes, Ahdani takes amulet. Then red robe man comes. Ahdani fights, but red robe man stabs old man. Ahdani is afraid guard will think Ahdani killed old man, but guard does not think this. Guard is not stupid, yes. Guard tells Ahdani to go to Weynon Priory, find Jauffre man, give amulet. Ahdani would like to take old man’s nice robes but guard will not let her. Guard gives Ahdani key to get into sewer. Guard thinks Ahdani is agent, agent of what? Ahdani is clever and quick and agile, yes!

Ahdani is not happy about sewer. Tunnels are already dark and smelly, yes. Sewer will be worse. But sewer is way to get out. Ahdani takes key, unlocks door into sewer. In sewer are more rats and goblins. Ahdani kills them with her sword. There is door, when door opens, Ahdani is outside, yes! Ahdani is free!

It is night. Ahdani sees Ayleid ruin across water. Behind Ahdani are walls, city walls. Ahdani does not want to go into city at night. Maybe city guards will know she escaped prison. Tomorrow she will go, when city people all sad that emperor dies. Then no one will notice Khajit selling things for gold septims. Ahdani will sell things, buy fish and meat that is not rat meat, yes. Now Ahdani will find place to sleep.

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask, part 13: Mentor in the Shadows

01.22.2017
Session 18
Character level: 6th

The Ruby Scarabs continued their exploration of the subterranean parts of the Observatory of Truth and Wisdom by examining the altar in the center of the room where the chained zombies stood. They had already seen that the altar had been desecrated by having unidentified foul substances smeared on it. But they were able to discern that underneath the filth the altar was dedicated to Pharasma, and had a silver disc bearing the seal of House Shepses inset into its surface.

Kaa examined the altar for hidden panels and found one, which opened a compartment containing a light wooden shield. When Uto checked the shield for magical properties, he found that it had a leather strip on the back that could be used to inscribe a single spell. After a short discussion, it was decided that for the present Sula should take the shield, although it probably belonged to House Shepses and the Scarabs planned to show it to Nakht Shepses when they returned to the Grand Mausoleum in Wati.

There were no secret buttons or levers on the altar and Kaa found no other hidden compartments. The members of the Scarabs conferred and determined that they could remove the desecration of the altar by cleaning away the grime. It was Uto’s idea to use water from the sanctified reflecting pool in the next room. Once the altar had been washed clean of the muck, everyone felt a sense of relief and the chained zombies all collapsed, robbed of the life force that had unnaturally sustained them. Uto detected no other magic in the chamber besides that the party members themselves carried. Having completed their examination of the altar room, the Scarabs decided to continue on through the bronze doors on the opposite side of the chamber.

As was customary, Kaa checked the doors for traps. The doors themselves were not trapped or locked, but when he stepped into the short hallway beyond them, the tengu monk realized that it contained a plate in the floor which would cause a section of the ceiling to collapse when triggered. There was nothing else in the hallway but a robed statue. Kaa disabled the floor plate so the rest of the group could enter. Beyond the short hallway there was a larger corridor running parallel to it, which turned sharp corners to the left and right so that what lay beyond was not visible from the entryway. Two doorways faced the party from the wall opposite the trapped entrance. Kaa went for the door to his left, and found it held no traps. He decided to check all of the other doorways down the left-hand corridor as well and those also proved not to be trapped. While he was examining all the doors, the party heard a voice that seemed to be chanting or babbling, though they couldn’t make out the words.

When Kaa returned, he opened the left-hand door he had checked first. It revealed a room full of shelves with small labeled compartments and a single heavy table. But the attention of the Scarabs was immediately drawn to the presence of three armed and armored animated skeletons, and an animated severed head of an old woman that was enclosed in a cage. As soon as the head spied them it screeched, “Living! Living! Kill them!” and the skeletons moved to attack the Ruby Scarabs. The head also began to chant the words of a spell, which Uto realized was meant to blind or deafen the target. Fortunately its victim, Kaa, was able to resist the full force of the magic, though he was disoriented by the after-effect of the spell. One of the skeletons grasped a chain that was attached to the cage holding the head and began to swing the cage as an improvised flail, though this did little to disrupt the head’s spellcasting. The party members discovered that the head’s vicious glare had a dismaying effect, but they were able to overcome it and continue fighting the skeletons. Nyema bit into the skeleton that stood furthest from the head. The head cast another spell, and Kaa stopped moving. Uto channeled positive energy to injure the head, and at the same moment Azzaria’s adamantine flail shattered one skeleton and it crumbled to the floor. Sula then stepped behind the immobilized Kaa and maneuvered him out of the way. Igby and Azzaria attacked the skeleton that was not holding the cage and disposed of it. Now only the head and the skeleton holding it remained.

The old woman’s head attempted to cause Azzaria to attack her own comrades but failed. Azzaria, Igby, and Nyema surrounded the skeleton grasping the chain, and Sula climbed onto the table to attack it from the other side. The head directed a spell at Uto, but in response he destroyed the skeleton that held the chain. The caged head fell to the floor, but somehow the head was still able to move by rolling about. Azzaria dropped her flail and drew both of her other weapons to attack the cage. Sula could not reach the cage from her vantage on the table, so she kicked the chair out of the way and jumped to the floor to strike at it with her club. Uto made an effort to sunder the cage so that the group could more easily access the vile head. Sula grabbed for the chain to control it but missed her grip. Nyema managed to claw the head through the cage. The head in the meantime continued spellcasting and finally succeeded in robbing Igby of his sight.

Uto cast a healing spell at the head, which he knew would injure it. At the same time, Kaa, who had recovered from the spell that had affected him, attacked the head and destroyed it. With the head and its minions out of the way, the Scarabs could now examine the room. It resembled a Catalog of Last Days such as would be found in the Grand Mausoleum of Pharasma, but this one was a catalog of births, marriages, and other joyous occasions instead of deaths. To their surprise, they found that the information was still being kept current! Kaa found his own birth recorded there, though to his disappointment it did not include the name of his unknown father. It seemed that someone of the Shepses family was coming to the Necropolis to maintain the records. While they looked around the room, the Scarabs also noticed that the skeleton that had been holding the head had ink stains on its finger bones. There were numerous scribbled notes on the table. Uto looked at the notes and realized that the old woman’s head had been dictating and the skeleton had scribed the notes for her.

The notes told that the woman’s name in life had been Neferekhu and she had been a seer. She had experienced visions of the cursed Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh. Her grandson Nebtah Khufre had become extremely interested in these visions. It seemed likely that her grandson had become proficient in necromancy and had reanimated his grandmother’s head when she died. Neferekhu’s tale told that Nebtah Khufre had been banished from Wati’s sister town of Tephu and had come to Wati. She also mentioned that her grandson had a shadowy mentor, a creature she believed had come from another  plane of existence.

Other than Neferekhu’s notes, there was nothing of value in the Catalog of Days, so the Ruby Scarabs decided to move on to the doorways down the left side corridor. The first door they opened admitted them to a room lined with sarcophagi and full of food and other offerings for the dead. But as soon as they opened the door, an undead creature rushed toward them, one they recognized as something called a festrog. It charged Uto, who created a magical stone shield to protect himself. Another door down the hallway opened and several more festrogs spilled out, rushing to attack the Scarabs. One of them clawed and bit Azzaria. The battle with the festrogs was quick but disgusting, for the creatures were covered in oozing pustules that exploded if they were struck by edged weapons. It took little time for the Scarabs to destroy them all, but in the process one of them clawed Nyema and when the fighting was done Uto determined that she had probably been infected by the disease the creatures carried. Neither he nor Sula had prepared a spell that could treat the disease and they had already expended their anti-plague potions; they would have to wait for the following day to address it.

When the Scarabs examined the Hall of Immortal Dead, they found evidence that some of the dead in the sarcophagi might have been transformed into undead and clawed their way out. There was no indication that anyone had opened any of the sarcophagi from outside. They left the sarcophagus room and went into the section of hallway they had yet to explore, passing by a set of magical doors and a descending staircase. Opposite the Hall of Immortal Dead stood the Hall of Immortal Beasts, which contained many preserved animals, even an elephant. After looking briefly into that hall, the party then located a room where the records of deaths were stored. In it Kaa found a spell scroll in a hidden compartment.

Once that level of the Observatory’s underground structure had been explored to their satisfaction, the Ruby Scarabs took the stairway down to the next level below. At the bottom of the stairs they encountered a foyer with floor tiles displaying the spiral symbol of Pharasma in bright blue glaze. This floor radiated transmutation magic. Kaa clambered across the wall of the foyer like a spider to reach the door on the opposite side, searching for a trigger to deactivate the magic trap he suspected the blue-tiled floor contained. When he reached the door and tried to open it, the tiles rose up from the floor and launched themselves at him. He leaped into the room beyond the door. Azzaria smashed one of the floating tiles with her weapon. Uto grabbed a tile and carried it up the stairs to see what would happen. Once it was away from the foyer it stopped floating. Azzaria followed his example and took a tile, and the other tiles settled back onto the floor. When Uto returned to the room, the tiles rose again and one of them dealt him a serious blow to the head.

Uto realized that what allowed a person to cross the foyer safely was probably a symbol of Pharasma, so he and Azzaria held tiles in front of them and the floor settled down once more. Azzaria took another tile and gave it to Sula, and Sula was able to persuade Nyema to hold a tile in her mouth. Azzaria took charge of blind Igby as they crossed the foyer. Once everyone else had moved beyond the blue-tiled floor, Kaa took a tile and went back to check for hidden doors. He found a small unconcealed room that contained a supply of extra tiles and an odd coin. He also discovered a secret panel that opened to a slightly larger room full of additional tiles. He took enough of these for each member of the group to have one. Then the Scarabs replaced all the tiles they had taken from the floor, planning to use the spare tiles to help them get back across the foyer when they returned.

Sula examined the unusual coin that Kaa had found, and learned that it was a magical talisman that would randomly enhance a person’s ability for one hour three times a day, as long as the person was human, half-elf, or half-orc. As Uto was the only member of the group who could make use of it, it was not very interesting to the Scarabs. But Kaa kept it.

By this time the party members were all weary and their spells and magical abilities were depleted. They decided it would be best to rest before continuing their investigation of the Observatory. The hidden room that held the store of extra tiles was large enough to accommodate them, so they decided to take refuge there as it appeared that no one had opened it for a long time and they suspected the current users of the underground chambers did not know it existed.

When the Ruby Scarabs had rested sufficiently to prepare new spells, both Uto and Sula prepared a spell to remove diseases and Sula used hers to treat Nyema. Uto also used a spell to restore Igby’s sight. They used their tiles to allow them to cross the tiled foyer safely and entered a large chamber with a statue more than twice the height of a man at its center. The statue represented Pharasma, portrayed as a matronly woman with long hair holding a sprig of an herb often used in childbirth. There were two tables in the main chamber with the statue, and the walls were lined by curtained alcoves. Kaa began checking the area for traps, while Uto scanned for traces of magic. A pair of doors beyond the statue displayed a magical aura when Uto examined them. Kaa found no traps. He located another chamber at the end of short hallway, which appeared to be a room for the preparation of mummies. A second short hallway led to what he assumed to be a kitchen, as this area appeared to be living space for the priests, but Kaa did not go down the hallway to look at the second room’s contents. There was a third hallway that he did not follow, and another descending staircase.

Uto began to check the curtained alcoves to see what they contained. The first alcove he opened revealed an undead creature that he was able to identify as a crypt thing. When he recognized it he remembered that it had the ability to teleport other creatures a great distance to random locations. His comrades were all within reach of this ability as he recalled it, so he shouted, “Run!” But instead of fleeing, his companions remained. Igby moved to place himself between Uto and the crypt thing, and cast a blessing on the party. Azzaria also moved toward the crypt thing. Uto then tried to harm before it could use its ability, by using his prehensile hair to convey a healing spell to its unliving flesh. The crypt thing hissed and stepped out of the alcove. As it did so a pulse of energy expanded outward from it to fill the room, but it appeared to have no effect on the Scarabs, and an instant later the crypt thing itself vanished.

A moment after the crypt thing disappeared, the Scarabs heard a roar from the mummy preparation room. Igby ran into the room to see what was there and found himself facing a female ghast. Everyone else moved closer to the entrance of that room as Igby reported that the crypt thing had appeared at the back of the preparation room. Kaa shot a ray of fire at the crypt thing from the doorway where he stood behind Igby. The ghast roared again and leaped toward Igby, paralyzing him with a rake of its claw. Azzaria struck the ghast a fierce blow, and then the crypt thing moved forward. It was surrounded by a baleful aura, which frightened Nyema and caused the young lioness to flee into the presumed kitchen area. Kaa attacked the ghast, which struck at Azzaria and then she too was paralyzed. Uto responded by sending out healing energies to wound the ghast. This energy destroyed the crypt thing, but the ghast remained.

Kaa attempted to move the immobile Azzaria out of the way but was unable to shift her. The ghast then directed its attack at him. Sula summoned flames to her hand and hurled them at the ghast, but it had cover behind her friends and she missed. Uto then remembered that he had a magic rod in his pack that would allow him to send a spell a greater distance that it could usually reach. He used it to cast another healing spell at the ghast. Kaa followed by raining a flurry of punches on it and it collapsed.

Once the ghast was gone, Uto realized that the paralysis it had inflicted wouldn’t last long. Igby had already recovered. Nyema had also recovered from the fear the crypt thing had caused and had returned to Sula’s side. The Scarabs entered the mummy preparation room to look around. It had clearly been used more recently than the long-ago disaster that created the Necropolis, but it hadn’t been in use for a number of years and all of the herbs and supplies were too old to be of any value. This was apparently the Shepses family tomb, where their members were prepared for burial.

The room Nyema had fled to proved to be visitors’ chambers rather than a kitchen. There were several bedrooms off to one side of the room. The third bedroom appeared to have been recently occupied, for there was food in it that was still in the process of decay. There were also some scribbled notes. The Scarabs began to wonder if this was where Nebtah Khufre had been staying. Disturbingly, one of the other rooms held two recent corpses of attractive women who bore tattoos representing the goddess Calistria. They had apparently died of exposure in the desert, and there were indications that magic had been used to prevent them from decaying. It seemed likely that someone had intended to raise them as undead. The women both wore very expensive jewelry, which the Scarabs took.

All that was left to explore were the magical doors, one hallway, and the staircase. A fresh aroma rose up from whatever lay at the bottom of the stairs, but the group decided to investigate the hallway first. It led them into a high-ceilinged room in which they found a diorama portraying the whole of Wati and the Necropolis laid out in miniature. A black obelisk as tall as the statue of Pharasma stood where the Grand Mausoleum would be in the real Wati. There were no other visible exits from the diorama room, but Uto felt a powerful magical aura above the point of the obelisk. When he indicated this, he and his companions looked up to find a glowing orb, nearly as large as the obelisk was tall. In the center of this orb was a dark creature that had features resembling both a bat and a spider. Uto recognized it as an entity from another plane, known by the unpronounceable name of ‘sceaduinar’. As the Scarabs looked up at this creature, they silently wondered if this could be the ‘shadowy mentor’ mentioned in Neferukha’s notes. Uto’s memory told him that although the sceaduinar was not a physically strong creature, it had otherworldly powers that would make it very difficult for the Scarabs to kill it without suffering great losses themselves if they were not blessed with good fortune.

Uto decided to address the creature and ask it what it was doing there. It replied that it had come “to watch the war between life and death.” It also stated that it had “found a vessel to bring that war.” When questioned further it seemed very confident that its ‘vessel’ was far more powerful than the Ruby Scarabs and that there was no way to prevent the war it predicted. After he had spoken to it for a short time, Uto looked at his friends and they all left the diorama chamber to talk. They decided that it would be unwise to attack the sceaduinar. Instead they would complete their exploration of the Observatory’s subterranean levels and see what else they could discover.

Loot:
30 silver rods (50 gp each)
Caster’s shield
Coin of the untrodden road 
Scroll of death ward
Jewelry worth 2,400 gp

Next: Part 14

[Pathfinder] Mummy's Mask - part 12: The Observatory of Truth and Wisdom

01.01.2017

Session 17

Character level: 6^th

Igby’s player absent

The Ruby Scarabs departed from the Necropolis via the smugglers’ tunnel and returned to the Grand Mausoleum in Wati, where they told the priests of Pharasma about the condition of the Elegiac Compasses. In return, the priests gave them information about various locations which lay along the line that the lone active Compass had pointed toward. Some of these locations overlapped with places where the Darkfolk had observed the golden-masked strangers. The list of places included the following:

·        The Archives of the Ibis

·        The Temple of the Risen Osiris

·        The Ghoul Market

·        The Tomb of Maatya

·        The Woven Reed

·        The Pyramid of Arithmetic Bliss

·        The Dust Parlor

·        The Observatory of Truth and Wisdom

Sula took the opportunity to hand the ankheg chitin she had been carrying over to an armorer and ask him to craft her armor and a shield from it. She also spent some time in the form of a young lioness, getting accustomed to her new ability. She claimed six gold bracelets from the items the group had acquired in the Necropolis. Because Uto had newly developed the ability to clothe himself in magical armor, it was decided that the magical mail he had been wearing would be sold, and part of the proceeds used to purchase a curative wand from the temple. The party members each bought vials of antitoxin and anti-plague preparations as well, and some members picked up bottles of alchemist’s fire.

On the following day, the Scarabs returned to the Necropolis, but they decided not to go back through the tunnel. They wanted to save their energy and spells for other foes rather than fighting the crowd of undead at the main entrance, so they made the choice to walk around the outside of the Necropolis walls to the gate on the far side and climb over the wall, aided by Uto’s levitation and ropes. A harness was prepared to allow them to lift Nyema over the wall, though the lioness clearly didn’t enjoy the experience.

They had already been to the Ghoul Market and the tomb of Maatya and crossed those off their list. They decided to investigate the Pyramid of Arithmetic Bliss first. The list of places where the masked cultists had been seen and the list provided by the temple of Pharasma both included this place, and it was a possible location from which the star chart the Darkfolk had found might have come. They Pyramid proved not to be an actual pyramid; it was the former headquarters of a stonemason’s guild, and the roof of the building was in the form of a pyramid. The Scarabs found that there were several small outbuildings that showed signs of having been broken open from inside. These were the burial places of those who had died at the Pyramid during the time of madness. But the undead that had escaped their tombs were not lingering around the main building. They had apparently all wandered off to join the gathering by the main gate between the Necropolis and Wati.

The Scarabs searched the grounds around the building, but the only thing of significance they found was footprints of shod feed leading in and out of the entrance to the grounds. These had been partially obscured later by the prints of the risen dead, so it seemed that if the cultists had come here, they had since departed. As the group prepared to enter the main structure, Kaa checked the porch for traps but found none. The doors were also unlocked. Inside the building they saw a long corridor lined with niches. They also heard whispering voices that seemed to be raving like madmen.

There were scrolls and scraps of papyrus scattered everywhere, which excited Uto. He began using his prehensile hair to pick them up. As the party made their way down the corridor to a large chamber centered around a stone table, two ghostly dark figures appeared. These were the source of the mad ravings the party members had heard. They were quickly identified as allips, and Uto warned everyone to avoid being touched by the things lest they begin muttering insane ravings too. One of the allips was swiftly dispatched by Kaa, while the combined attacks of Uto, Azzaria, and Kaa eliminated the second. After their enemies had been destroyed, Uto used a wand to treat Kaa and Sula, who had both suffered the caresses of the allips.

The large chamber appeared to be a hall of records and workshop. The remains of a campsite had been left behind there, and Uto suspected that the visitors had been searching for something, hence the scattered scrolls and papers everywhere. There were also several sarcophagi lining the room, interring more of the victims of the madness. It was very dark in the area, so Igby summoned a light. Then the group heard shuffling sounds, and Kaa spied a mummy approaching.

Azzaria heard more noises and went to investigate, discovering that a second mummy had arrived. Azzaria reminded her companions that they were vulnerable to fire, but Uto pleaded with his comrades not to use fire against them for fear it would damage the ancient documents the shaman was attempting to collect. To his great dismay, his companions ignored him. Kaa scorched one of the mummies with a ray of fire, while Sula sheathed her spear in flames to stab at a mummy. Uto called water to pour over the flames and sent out a wave of positive energy to aid his friends. One mummy exploded when Sula slashed it with her spear. When it was gone she ran to help Azzaria fight the second mummy. But Azzaria hardly needed the assistance and made short work of the other mummy.

With the mummies gone, the Scarabs returned to examining the remnants of the camp. It showed evidence that four to six people had stayed there briefly while they searched. It had been abandoned only a few days ago. In an open sarcophagus the group found five falchions of high quality. They also discovered a magical ring that had been left behind in the campsite. A corpse wearing a golden mask was found nearby, which still had in its possession a pouch full of spell components and three turquoise stones.

Once Uto was satisfied that he had gathered up all the documents that he could, the Scarabs decided to depart from the Pyramid of Arithmetic Bliss and go next to the Observatory of Truth and Wisdom.

The Observatory was a single-story building with an attached tower that stood three stories tall. It was dedicated to the ancient gods Maat and Thoth. On entering the building the party quickly found star charts similar to the one the Darkfolk had given them. As they examined the entry chamber, which had been inscribed with the tenets of Pharasma’s faith, Uto suddenly realized that a key portion was missing – not removed or defaced, but simply omitted. This seemed very odd to him. While he was looking at this, the other members of the group realized there was a door in the center of the floor, in the middle of the spiral emblem of Pharasma. Kaa could find no mechanism to open it. Uto had a moment of inspiration and recited the missing phrase out loud. Then the trapdoor opened, revealing a spiral staircase descending into darkness.

Before they descended, the members of the Scarabs swallowed the anti-plague potions they had purchased in Wati. Sula also armored herself with bark-like skin, and Uto surrounded himself with his new armor, which took the form of spirits swirling around him to defend him from harm. The stairs led them down into a pillared room occupied by a reflecting pool and jackal-headed statues. Enchanted lights that never dimmed kept the room bright. On the opposite side of the room were four sets of bronze doors. The reflecting pool was murky, but proved to contain a number of silver rods that had perhaps been placed there to purify it. Kaa used a spell from his gloves to lift several of them out, then Uto summoned his invisible servant to attend to that task. Uto also detected two magical objects in the pool. These proved to be a pair of bronze armbands.

Kaa then checked the bronze doors and found no locks or traps. He opened one door in the center, which revealed that what lay beyond was a large chamber with a very high ceiling, its walls lined with curtained alcoves. In the center of the chamber stood an altar that had clearly been desecrated, as it was covered with stains and residue of something unpleasant. There were also a number of zombies chained to the walls, as well as a dozen zombies roaming freely that immediately headed for the open door.

The Ruby Scarabs quickly decided that they would not open any of the other doors and would stand their ground in front of the door Kaa had opened. They hoped this plan would allow them to eliminate the zombies one by one. Uto sent a wave of positive energy through the doorway, destroying many zombies at once. But then the party members heard movement on the stairs behind them. A group of masked cultists had appeared. Sula turned and lobbed a handful of flames at one of the cultists. Uto used his hair to eliminate the last zombie, then shut the door and turned to join his companions in facing the cultists. Azzaria heard singing coming from the top of the stairs and suggested that Sula send Nyema up to attack the singer, but Sula was reluctant to send her companion out of her line of sight. The cultist Sula had burned sent a cone of fire at Azzaria, revealing that the cultists were also magic-users. Two of the other cultists sheathed their hands in lightning and one of them moved toward Azzaria, quickly followed by the other. Azzaria swung her weapon and one of the two fell.

Sula heard someone reciting the words of a spell to summon another creature into the chamber. The voice seemed to be coming from an alcove under the staircase. She warned her comrades. Azzaria moved into the alcove and swung at the unseen spellcaster, managing to hit the person and causing the spell to fail. Uto knocked another cultist unconscious and that person fell into the reflecting pool. The unseen spellcaster tried to afflict Azzaria with uncontrollable laughter, but failed. Then another person appeared. At the same time Kaa eliminated two of the cultists. Sula aimed her flames at the woman under the stairs. The cultist who had fallen into the pool stood up, and Nyema promptly afflicted a fatal wound on him with her teeth. Azzaria then became enraged and directed her fury at the unseen woman by the stair, who she realized had also been the singer up above. The woman’s invisibility faded, and Uto grabbed her with his hair, intending to make her prisoner and question her about the cult’s intentions. She attempted to cast another spell from within the binding of hair but was unsuccessful.

With the woman taken captive, the fight was over. Three of the other cultists were severely wounded, and one was dead. Uto used his magic to prevent the wounded people from bleeding to death. Afterward the Scarabs searched them and removed all of the belongings, finding that each one carried the same equipment: a dagger, five darts, a shortsword, a magical cloak, thieves’ tools, a brass mask, several turquoises, and a small amount of coin. They also had five magical scrolls containing the same spell, five vials of poison, and five magic potions with the same effect.

The woman they had taken captive had a different variety of objects in her possession indicating that she might have been the leader of the small group, or at least a person of greater status. She had a scroll of a different spell, a wand, a set of magical leather armor, a buckler, a dagger, a fine quality sickle, a magical tome, two lapis bracelets, a mask of gold rather than brass, and a larger quantity of coin. When questioned she was reluctant to speak, but she did mention the Sky Pharaoh, and enough to make it apparent that the cultists were trying to find a mask. The Ruby Scarabs realized that more than one group of people appeared to be pursuing the same mask – perhaps the mask that had been taken from the hidden room beneath the Sanctum of the Erudite Eye. But they still did not know why these groups desired the mask, or who the other group were.

After the woman was questioned, Uto took one of the scrolls her companions had carried and used it to send a message to the priests of Pharasma in Wati, telling them briefly what had transpired. Afterward the Scarabs bound their prisoners, intending to leave them in the reflecting pool chamber while they explored the desecrated temple further.

Loot:

5 masterwork falchions

Spell component pouch

Several silver rods

Ring of feather fall

Bracers of armor +1

5 daggers

20 darts

4 shortswords

5 brass masks

4 cloaks of resistance +1

4 sets of thieves’ tools

15 turquoise gemstones

4 scrolls of whispering wind

5 potions of undetectable alignment

5 vials of taggit poison

33 gold pieces

Gold mask 50gp

Masterwork sickle

Potion of cure light wounds

Scroll of expeditious retreat

Wand of invisibility, 11 charges

+1 studded leather armor

+1 buckler

Tome of lesser extended summoning (evil)

2 lapis lazuli bracelets 35gp

Next: Part 13