Location: Tomb of the Oracles
Loose ends: Escaped Zyss attacker.
Summary:
The
party set out to go to the Tomb of the Oracles so that Bhitzaoji could finish
his ritual to become a Living Monolith. Along the way they were attacked
by a group from Srasthadra, and a Zyss managed to escape. The party then
made it to the Tomb, where in order to gain the knowledge, Bhit had to undergo a trial.
For the trial, they had to pass a puzzle, then a curse, then defeat an Oracle and one of
the stone guardians, which they did after a little bit of poor luck. And
with the trial completed, Bhit was granted his wish, and the rest of the
party received their loot as well.
Full report:
So
it has been a while since this one posted on the adventurers' board
asking for a party to take them back to complete the ritual of becoming a
Living Monolith, but finally a group of people came together to take me
to the Tomb of the Oracles. We spent some time the first night just
conversing and getting everything organized to set out in the morning.
We
rode uninterrupted for 4 days, but then on the fifth day we came into
contact with the Serpentfolk of Srasthadra, who gave us a right nasty
beating. The party ended up taking care of the Granitescale and another
Aapoph, but the Zyss got away. We got up to leave as soon as we could,
only stopping to heal once we were a good distance away.
Another
2 days of travel, and the party arrived at their destination. This one
was somewhat surprised to see that Khafre was still at the same entrance
as before, but looking back it makes sense as this is now one of the
only places an intruder can enter. Bhitzaoji approached the Unknown, requesting that they conduct the ritual, however the Sphinx had other
plans. Khafre needed to see if the party was worthy of such knowledge, and
sent them deeper into the Tomb to conduct their trial.
The
first trial was a door with an inscription overhead
that read "To proceed, choose wisely". On the door there were 5 handles, each
with a different colour and their own inscription. They were Green:
Animate, Blue: Energize, Gold: Sage, Purple: Force, Red: Drive. The
party choose the golden handle, and was taken to another large granite
room that was dimly lit by four torches. The shadows flickered with the
light of the torches which illuminated four statues. Each statue held a
stone sword. The statues all seemed to have a different head. A Bird, a Cat, a Dog, and a Unknown. Continuing on to the far side of the room, there was another door with another inscription, this time in Saqqaran. It read "All who enter will face the Oracles' challenge. Beware the
Oracle's Curse." the group readied up, unsure what this warning could
mean, and passed through the door. Bhitzaoji, Sohma and Dr. prof. Boom Boom were all hit with a strange feeling, but thought nothing of it at the
time. Beyond the door, there was a long hallway that opened up into a
burial chamber with four large pillars holding up the ceiling,
threatening to collapse as sand trickled in the room from the desert above. In
the centre was a Human statue, with its arms crossed. The eyes glowed black
and appeared to have stars in them. Behind the statue was a Sarcophagus
that was partially open. They pressed further into the room.
Bhitzaoji took a brief walk around the room to look for another door, but did not find one. On the walk, he noticed that the sarcophagus in
the middle of the room had some markings on it, and tried to move in
closer to investigate. This however upset the Oracle residing
inside, as they animated as a Mummy, and started a sandstorm. Almost in
unison the Statue also animated and began swinging. The battle raged on
for quite some time, but Sohma took out the Statue, and the party tried to focus down the Oracle with a lot of difficulty, Bhit, Sohma, and
Bochi all getting dropped at least once in the fight, but eventually the
party did prevail.