Eonwe looks nervously on at the blades, wondering if his own levels of agility are enough to avoid being sliced up.

"If that is poison, I don't fancy the idea of everyone trying to jump through," she replied to Fodor, before turning to Orum. "Can the trigger for the blades be disarmed?" she asked him. "Or if not, maybe we could take something large and us it to block or stop them from swinging, like one of the empty coffins. Because if we can't stop them at all, then I'd say we backtrack to the start of the tier and start exploring the opposite direction since we have no defense against poison. Maybe we could come back later with a lot of oil flasks and try to set a fire to burn the gunk away. That might make risking a jump feasible.""

"Sounds good to me", agrees l'Atreq.  "Especially the bit where we don't go rushing through those gunk covered blades."

(OOC) Wait. Are the blades in constant (perpetual) swinging motion or did they come to rest in a straight down position? I thought the first set of blades had come to a stop and was now easily bypassed and the only ongoing concern was perhaps ANOTHER similar trap further into the room. No?

Orum perused the blades and the square that released them. Were they slowing, or even stopped? Did the square differ from those up to that point? How had they appeared, a sliding panel or pivoting wall?

The blades continue to scythe away. If they were to stop, Orum would have a 49% chance to disarm the trap.

Each of Orum's find traps attempts consumes a turn, so you've been in this chamber for an hour and a half so far.

At first glance, I don't think trying to block them with a sarcophagus would be feasible.

@Orum
Were they slowing, or even stopped? No, they've been in motion for 3+ minutes.

Did the square differ from those up to that point? No, they all appear to be identical, save for their color (red or white).

How had they appeared, a sliding panel or pivoting wall? A sliding panel in the ceiling.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:31, Sun 29 Jan 2023.

"If we cannot block or disarm them, and have no cure for poison, then we should leave this for another time. There is still the rest of the tier to explore," V shrugged. If someone had an idea how they could all pass safely, wonderful, but otherwise it was best to backtrack and move on.

“That works. Let’s go around if these blades will swing perpetually.”

"You would think that they would've stopped after few minutes.  It seems odd to me that it should have run out of steam by now or shortly.  Maybe we come back and see if it stops, or slows.  I now have access to neutralizing poison spells but, not today."

After retreating from the still-scything scythe, the outfit makes the long walk along the western side and then the southern side of the pyramid before turning north and doing the same. Before long, it has reached the unexplored northwestern area of the tier and another room.

The door to this room is scorched, as is the end of the corridor. The outline of a man-sized humanoid form is etched into the scorched wall section. The door to the room is slightly open, but not enough to see into the room.



That northern passage to the east leads to the burial chamber for the captain of the guard.

"I would recommend you pray for the neutralization spell and always keep that at hand. No other spell could be as vital," she suggested to Tarrahn, "and if it is ever needed, it is usually too late to put it in effect if it is not ready immediately," she added, thinking of their fallen snakebite comrade Alerasune.

Backtracking, to the start, and then to the next room, she looked curiously at the image. In a questioning tone, she said, "Presumably, the door was trapped and an explorer found that out the hard way? Orum, can you check to be sure it hasn't been reset? And everyone else, just be ready in case the scorched image animates."

Eonwe stands at the ready, away from the scorchmark awaiting an inspection from Orum.

l'Atreq muses and says."I believe I have resist fire prepared but would it be enough?"

"I will start doing that tomorrow Vixl," Tarrahn says as he looks upon the wall.  "I think it safe to presume that something bad happened on front of that door!"

Loran checks, "Everyone still alraight? Not needing any healing?"

(OOC) Looks like everyone is still at full HP and spells according to the Status Chart in The Infidels thread - unless I missed an update

Orum studies the scorched outline on the wall and the slightly ajar door and then renders his professional opinion that, yes, the trap, a glyph most like', had already been sprung.

With that assurance, Fodor pushes open the door the rest of the way to reveal another tomb on this tier of tombs:

Along the walls are paintings of a priest performing ceremonies. On a raised dais in the middle of the room lies an open bronze sarcophagus. Here, three hideous, beast-like humanoids are tearing a mummified body apart with their sharp claws.

They cross the room in great loping strides and are upon Fodor and l'Atreq before they can react, striking each with their fecal-flecked claws. Already their pointy tongues probe the freshly dug furrows to find the marrow they so hungrily seek.

Ghouls have AC 6.
Fodor and l'Atreq have entered the room and are blocking the doorway.
Ghoul A attacks Fodor and hits 1x for 1 dmg. Fodor must save vs. paralysis.
Ghoul B attacks l'Atreq and hits 2x for 4 dmg. l'Atreq must save vs. paralysis 2x.
Ghoul C misses l'Atreq 3x.

16:56, Today: Divine Words rolled 15,3,13,3,14,4 using d20,d3,d20,d3,d20,d6.  Ghoul v. L.
16:55, Today: Divine Words rolled 2 using 1d2.  1-F 2-L.
16:55, Today: Divine Words rolled 18,3,18,1,8,5 using d20,d3,d20,d3,d20,d6.  Ghoul v. l.
16:55, Today: Divine Words rolled 1,2,16,1,10,4 using d20,d3,d20,d3,d20,d6.  ghoul v. F.
16:52, Today: The Lord of Divine Words rolled 2,3 using d6,d6.  init party v. Lost City.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:14, Tue 31 Jan 2023.

Orum steps back and prepares himself to pull anyone paralyzed from the room.

Fodor pulls out his long sword and raises his shield, but one of the ghouls gets several nasty attacks in. Before he can bring his sword arm around to attack, his arms and hands go numb, his body goes limp, and then all his muscles, other than those necessary to breathe and pump blood, freeze up. He doesn’t know if his sword or shield are still in his hands or if they have dropped. He can’t feel anything other than the creature tearing at his flesh. As he breathes, he can smell the fetid rot of the undead scavenger. He feels dizzy as he realizes he has no control of his body to balance himself against the weight of the creature.

As his eyes lose focus, he hears the entreaties of the Party’s clerics calling for divine aid. He also begins to hear a strange buzzing sound, almost like forest insects…but that makes no sense. It must be the paralysis affecting his hearing…
This message was last edited by the player at 02:26, Wed 01 Feb 2023.

Once he sees that Fodor is helpless, Tarrahn will cast Summon Swarm on the creature that attacked him.

Summon Insects
Druidic Conjuration/ Summoning
Level: Druid 3
Range: 30 ft
Duration: 1 round/ caster level
Area of Effect: See below
Components: V,S,M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: None

70% chance that the swarm will be composed of flying
insects, 30% chance that the insects will be ants or other
non-airborne biting vermin. A flying swarm can move tremendously fast,
but a crawling swarm is limited to movement of 12 ft/ round. In either case,
the insects automatically inflict 2 hp damage per round against their target,
and the unfortunate victim will be so thickly covered as to
be incapable of any action, including movement. The druid
may redirect the swarm to attack another opponent, but
the command will cause 1 round of confusion within the
swarm as it reorients itself toward the new target
This message was last edited by the player at 14:13, Wed 01 Feb 2023.

Eonwe grasps his holy symbol of Nephthys and calls for divine aid.

Turn Undead on the ghouls.

13:14, Today: Eonwe rolled 13 using 1d20.  Turn Undead check.

Loran likewise calls upon divinity to repell the undead, "Begone, unclean bone-pickers!"

======
OOC: Fails
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Thu 02 Feb 2023.

21:03, Today: l'Atreq rolled 6 using 1d20.  Save v death, paralysis or Poison 1.
21:04, Today: l'Atreq rolled 2 using 1d20.  Save v death, paralysis or Poison 2.
[Target = 10]

[If that doesn't mean he's paralysed...]
In the unlikely event that the ghouls are still fighting, l'Atreq too draws his symbol and declares, "Begone foul ghouls in the name of Ptath."

21:09, Today: l'Atreq rolled 12 using 1d20.  Turn undead (target = 10+ for ghouls).
21:11, Today: l'Atreq rolled 3 using 1d3.  Number of ghouls turned.

Orum tugs at whichever of Fodor's extremities in furthest from the ghoul and the swarm.

Ghouls- one of the largest concerns she had had. And their most experienced cleric had been paralyzed. Now would be an exceptionally useful time to have that neutralize poison spell, she thought ruefully.

But if wishes were fishes... As it was, the best thing to do was strike hard, and hope her elven immunity was enough to hold them off until one of the other clerics mustered the faith to drive them back. She moved ahead, and swung hard. Fortunately, her concerns about such a foe meant she was well ready for their tactics, and her blade cut well.


(ooc)
23 to hit, 7 damage for the first attack.
23 to hit, 6 damage for the first attack.

And I am as astonished as everyone else.