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(Eberron) Legacies - Updated 15 June
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<blockquote data-quote="Shieldhaven" data-source="post: 2409046" data-attributes="member: 23427"><p>We’re holed up in the temple that was built out in front of the pyramid. We had at least two more close brushes with death getting here, but maybe we’ll have time to rest and prepare more spells for a foray into the pyramid proper.</p><p></p><p>We met a flight of pegasi-mounted elves en route to the tomb. They landed and spoke with us, seeming impressed that such a small group was braving the desert. The worms are apparently known to them as “thunder herders,” and the massive sand-dwelling starfish is a “dust digger.” They also told us of the Thune dervishes, human nomads and cultists that worship the giants. The black smoke that we had seen in the distance was a sign of their burnt offerings. The land where they dwell is known as Terbekar, the Green Lands.</p><p></p><p>Once we parted ways with the elves, we saw a very tall figure moving across the sands, directly toward us. As it drew closer, we recognized it as a floating mummified giant – it seemed to walk a few inches above the sands, and left no tracks. I spoke to him in his own tongue, and he explained that he wished to be put to rest. When he was alive, he swore by the symbols of his office that the stopping of his heart would also stop the flowing of the waters of Athis. His subjects said that he was too harsh. The gods cursed him for his pride, and he will remain cursed until the symbols of his office are removed from his tomb.</p><p></p><p>We pressed onward, and in the night we were attacked by a band of nomads. A few of them were dervishes, but even so we defeated them handily. I later found myself regretting the spells I had cast in fighting them – a worthier foe awaited.</p><p></p><p>In the morning we came to the tomb, a pyramid with a temple built out in front of it. The nomads challenged us as we approached, but did not attack; we pretended to be merely interested in making a sacrifice to the “god” of the pyramid – having already concluded that the giant mummy was that god. Inside the main room of the temple, we encountered five or so cultists, led by a priest. He was “reading” from a white book with ornate fittings – holding the book upside down as he did so. I don’t believe the man could read a single word on the page. There was an altar by the back wall, and much like the passageway in the lizardmen’s pyramid, the walls of this room were covered with bas-relief depictions of the region’s history.</p><p></p><p>We maintained the façade of interest in the cult long enough to poke around a bit, but eventually we got bored of that game and Gerron jumped the priest, who turned out to be a tough customer indeed. He cast a Vengeful Shield of Flame upon himself, a spell that is beyond my own ability at present. Gerron was burned horribly during this battle; he only survived because Maeve hid under the altar with her hand resting on his ankle and chain-cast healing spells on him. The priest barely bothered to attack Gerron or anyone else, satisfied to heal himself and let the Shield devastate Gerron. We had a discussion of tactics afterward, and concluded that we went about things all wrong, but that is neither here nor there. I escaped nearly unscathed, though desperately low on spells. Strangely, no more cultists came pouring through the doors to support their allies – it turned out that the curtains pulled across a few of the doors acted as walls of perfect silence.</p><p></p><p>We explored the rest of the temple before engaging the sleeping junior priest and his band of cultists. The head priest’s book, when read properly, was actually an account that Amun-Re (now a giant mummy) had written during his life. We concluded, from references in the text, that the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six were simply known by slightly altered names. The head priest had a pair of bracers, which I claimed without hesitation, and a wand of Heal Grievous Wounds, which naturally went to Maeve. We don’t yet know the strength of the bracers or the number of charges remaining in the wand.</p><p></p><p>We found several statues with inset gems; these turned out to be magically trapped, and when Fel tried to pry out the jewel-eyes of one statue, he was paralyzed for a time.</p><p></p><p>Working our way around the temple, we came to the back door, which opens to a causeway into the pyramid. There is also a back door from the junior priest’s quarters, and Fel waited by that door as the rest of us attacked through the curtain of silence. It was not so dangerous a battle as the first, though Gerron was again in great danger – I need to improve his armor as soon as possible – and by the end I was well and truly drained of spells. We captured a bit more treasure and another few pages of interest, and holed up in the recently-occupied beds to recuperate a bit. It was a most taxing day, and I wonder what further surprises the pyramid itself may hold. The pages raise certain questions.</p><p></p><p>Some questions that remain:</p><p>Is it a divine force or a mortal one that causes the sacrifices in this temple to disappear, rather than remaining for use by the priests? How is Amun-Re’s actual tomb defended? Did the students come here at all? (This seems increasingly unlikely, unless they bypassed the temple and cultists entirely.) Exactly how many more cultists are there in the tribe of the Thune dervishes?</p><p></p><p>-----------------</p><p></p><p>Didn't post last week on account of no time to write and no way to justify writing an entry at the moment of a cliffhanger. This entry includes the last two sessions. We've just leveled to 6th - maybe a few of my woes of an insufficient spell column will be behind me. Most of us haven't bought our 6th level feats yet, as the DM has hinted that there may be Cool Lost Arts for us to learn in the pyramid.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Shieldhaven, post: 2409046, member: 23427"] We’re holed up in the temple that was built out in front of the pyramid. We had at least two more close brushes with death getting here, but maybe we’ll have time to rest and prepare more spells for a foray into the pyramid proper. We met a flight of pegasi-mounted elves en route to the tomb. They landed and spoke with us, seeming impressed that such a small group was braving the desert. The worms are apparently known to them as “thunder herders,” and the massive sand-dwelling starfish is a “dust digger.” They also told us of the Thune dervishes, human nomads and cultists that worship the giants. The black smoke that we had seen in the distance was a sign of their burnt offerings. The land where they dwell is known as Terbekar, the Green Lands. Once we parted ways with the elves, we saw a very tall figure moving across the sands, directly toward us. As it drew closer, we recognized it as a floating mummified giant – it seemed to walk a few inches above the sands, and left no tracks. I spoke to him in his own tongue, and he explained that he wished to be put to rest. When he was alive, he swore by the symbols of his office that the stopping of his heart would also stop the flowing of the waters of Athis. His subjects said that he was too harsh. The gods cursed him for his pride, and he will remain cursed until the symbols of his office are removed from his tomb. We pressed onward, and in the night we were attacked by a band of nomads. A few of them were dervishes, but even so we defeated them handily. I later found myself regretting the spells I had cast in fighting them – a worthier foe awaited. In the morning we came to the tomb, a pyramid with a temple built out in front of it. The nomads challenged us as we approached, but did not attack; we pretended to be merely interested in making a sacrifice to the “god” of the pyramid – having already concluded that the giant mummy was that god. Inside the main room of the temple, we encountered five or so cultists, led by a priest. He was “reading” from a white book with ornate fittings – holding the book upside down as he did so. I don’t believe the man could read a single word on the page. There was an altar by the back wall, and much like the passageway in the lizardmen’s pyramid, the walls of this room were covered with bas-relief depictions of the region’s history. We maintained the façade of interest in the cult long enough to poke around a bit, but eventually we got bored of that game and Gerron jumped the priest, who turned out to be a tough customer indeed. He cast a Vengeful Shield of Flame upon himself, a spell that is beyond my own ability at present. Gerron was burned horribly during this battle; he only survived because Maeve hid under the altar with her hand resting on his ankle and chain-cast healing spells on him. The priest barely bothered to attack Gerron or anyone else, satisfied to heal himself and let the Shield devastate Gerron. We had a discussion of tactics afterward, and concluded that we went about things all wrong, but that is neither here nor there. I escaped nearly unscathed, though desperately low on spells. Strangely, no more cultists came pouring through the doors to support their allies – it turned out that the curtains pulled across a few of the doors acted as walls of perfect silence. We explored the rest of the temple before engaging the sleeping junior priest and his band of cultists. The head priest’s book, when read properly, was actually an account that Amun-Re (now a giant mummy) had written during his life. We concluded, from references in the text, that the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six were simply known by slightly altered names. The head priest had a pair of bracers, which I claimed without hesitation, and a wand of Heal Grievous Wounds, which naturally went to Maeve. We don’t yet know the strength of the bracers or the number of charges remaining in the wand. We found several statues with inset gems; these turned out to be magically trapped, and when Fel tried to pry out the jewel-eyes of one statue, he was paralyzed for a time. Working our way around the temple, we came to the back door, which opens to a causeway into the pyramid. There is also a back door from the junior priest’s quarters, and Fel waited by that door as the rest of us attacked through the curtain of silence. It was not so dangerous a battle as the first, though Gerron was again in great danger – I need to improve his armor as soon as possible – and by the end I was well and truly drained of spells. We captured a bit more treasure and another few pages of interest, and holed up in the recently-occupied beds to recuperate a bit. It was a most taxing day, and I wonder what further surprises the pyramid itself may hold. The pages raise certain questions. Some questions that remain: Is it a divine force or a mortal one that causes the sacrifices in this temple to disappear, rather than remaining for use by the priests? How is Amun-Re’s actual tomb defended? Did the students come here at all? (This seems increasingly unlikely, unless they bypassed the temple and cultists entirely.) Exactly how many more cultists are there in the tribe of the Thune dervishes? ----------------- Didn't post last week on account of no time to write and no way to justify writing an entry at the moment of a cliffhanger. This entry includes the last two sessions. We've just leveled to 6th - maybe a few of my woes of an insufficient spell column will be behind me. Most of us haven't bought our 6th level feats yet, as the DM has hinted that there may be Cool Lost Arts for us to learn in the pyramid. [/QUOTE]
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