CLOSED Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords, Burnt Offerings

[hewligan]

The room gives off a strong essence of demonic magic, or, more correctly, just an essence of demon-ness. It is not a traditional invocation or similar that is in play in this room, and thus your spellcraft check returns nothing. Your own natural senses, however, heightened by those of Mal, give you enough of a sense of the otherworldly to get the hint of the demonic.

You fasten a rope around your waist, handing the loose loops to Jokad, who braces himself, and likewise winds some of the rope around his own waist. He leans back a little, ready to pull you if anything happens.

When you enter the room a strange sensation comes upon you. There is a prickling to the skin, a slight easing in the stomach, and then suddenly you are lifted up into the air. Your first thought is that you are going to be sucked up into the pulsing walls, but then you stop, simply hovering in the middle of the room, gently circling with the other objects.

From here, rotating slowly, you can see that the room is a perfect sphere, except for the entrance, which is cut into the square rather crudely.

The room, it appears, has some sort of levitating or gravity-free effect in place, but is otherwise safe.

You reach out and grab the items, electing to leave the dead bird and maggots (unless you think Mal would fancy a rotten snack?), before signaling to Jokad to pull you in. The young barbarian easily spools you back towards the door, but it takes some careful movement to brace yourself the right way up before you leave the gravity effect and fall to your feet.

All is well.

You are in possession of a book, a bottle of wine, and a twisted iron wand with a forked tip.

 

[Fenris]

Jovik shakes his head, partly at the sorcery of the room and the foolishness of Kael. Knowing that the scholarly types would takes all day to examine the most likely blasphemous book, Jovik turns on his heel heading back to the room with the statue knowing that Jokad would be glad to move on as well.

 

[Friadoc]

"Leave it to something tainted to make such a wonderous room." Kael says as he floats back to the group, thanks to Jokad's strong arm.

"I think these can await our leisure," says Kael as he puts away the book and bottle, however he does examine the wand a bit more closely now that he is back on the ground and out of the rope. "But this..."

OOC

Post #553 - Spellcraft check (1d20+4=19) - An attempt to gain an idea about the wand and its possible usage.

 

[hewligan]

Kael - the wand appears to be a wand of shocking grasp, and you can feel that there is still power within it, although you have no idea how much power before it is discharged.

 

[hewligan]

The weary, and in the case of Jokad, bruised, party make their way back towards the original entrance chamber of the Catacombs with its strange statue of the demonic woman. From here the curving corridor to the south beckons. There is little other choice but to take it, unless, of course, you wish to return up to Sandpoint?

No, not now, not after having come so far. You decide to press on.

The corridor snakes south and east for a good forty feet or so before opening out into a natural chamber with a small natural pool in a depression in the floor. You cannot see what feeds the pool. It may just be drips from the ceiling above (although it looks dry), but you can all sense the evil about the place. It feels ... unholy? Mal is clearly agitated, padding nervously around the pool.

Beyond it the corridor continues to the east, stretching on into the dark until a just-visible set of stone doors, open a crack, and letting a thin finger of light seep out from inside.

 

[Rhun]

"I like not the evil feelings in this place," says Danth quietly. "But mayhaps the answers we seek like beyond yon door." The cleric points toward the stone doors with his morningstar.

 

[Friadoc]

"Shocking Grasp?" Kael says to himself with a slight smile, "...nice."

Twirling it once within the fingers of his right hand, Kael tucks the wand away into his cloak as the party moves on.

However, as Mal grows aggitated, Kael looks around at the area and says, "Mal ain't liking it much, either."

As he pulls the wand from his cloak, Kael says, "I think you're right, shall we press on?"

OOC

In addendum, hewligan, what's the caster level for the wand, so I know the damage I can now inflict. Thanks.

 

[hewligan]

You edge nervously towards the imposing stone doors. The corridor itself widens and increases in height as you near, until it stands twelve foot wide by twelve foot high. You take a peek inside the opened door.

The huge room that lies beyond looks like nothing more than an immense underground cathedral. Beyond the stone doors the walls are carved with strange, spiky runes. In the center of the room is a large pool, a ring of polished human skulls balanced on stone spikes arranged in a circle around the deeper midsection. At the far end of the room, a pair of stone stairways leads up to a pulpit on which sits a second pool. This one is triangular and filled with churning, bubbling water that looks almost like translucent lava. Yet while whisps of what look like heat and steam rise from the strange orange liquid, the room itself is deathly cold.

At the back of the room, perched on the pulpit edge, you can see a smallish winged humanoid, with a greeny-black flesh tone, long white hair, and adorned with many bangles, and a fine red stone head-dress. She seems to be staring at you all from her perch 50 feet away.

 

[frostrune]

Jokad stops moving upon sighting the small figure. He eyes the creature warily, hand upon the yet unclaimed sword.

"What in the hells is that?" he quietly asks of the priests.



OOC: I'm back. Let the carnage begin!!!!

 

[hewligan]

Erylium

As you enter the room ((Please advise movement)), the small winged creature flies into an incandescent rage. She takes to the air easily, fluttering above the blood red pool on the raised dais, spitting vitriol at you.

"How dare you intrude upon the Mother's sanctum? How dare you intrude upon MY realm?"

Her face contorts in a scowl as she brandishes a small dagger and slashes hard at her wrist, drawing a thick rivulet of blood that spills from her arm into the well.

The waters of the boiling red pool glow brighter, briefly, and more agitated, and slowly, from the depth of the tiny pool a hideously long arm appears. It claws the ground, its two long fingers making it all too recognisable as another Sinspawn. The creature pulls itself from the pool, fresh with red liquid, as if it has just been birthed.

The flying creature laughs delightedly at her power, but then the pool fades, as if drained of some of its power. The waters quieten down. The red glow becomes less noticeable. Her face contorts in concern, and then further rage. She turns to face you all, spitting one last curse in your direction.

"I will feed it your deaths! That will replenish it!"

Before disappearing from sight with a blink. One second she was visible, the next she was gone. Some magic at play.

From across the room the Sinspawn lumbers towards you.

OOC: Actions please. Initiative if you think you can do a combat action, otherwise movements please. You have an invisible flying demonic THING and a Sinspawn against you all, so get moving!