Far Isles Session #67 - More Fun with Statues

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 5) 

Chaff (Vivimancer 5), with familiar Pretty Bird and Riding Dog Puppy Whuppy
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 5)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 5), with familiar Hermes and henchman Jaz (Elf 2)
Corvus (Fighter 3)

The shocked party watched Pahu's body float in circles for a few moments before their thoughts turned to next steps. Obviously no one wanted to step in the water at this point, but Kwinsea reminded them she could use the crystal heart to animate one of the statues out front; presumably a stone statue would not suffer the same acidic fate as Pahu.  All agreed, so Kwinsea and Jaz headed for the octopus headed statue, taking care to peer out of the entrance before stepping into the open. Unfortunately, they didn't look up, and as the pair stepped into the open, a group of seven troglodytes sprang down off the deck of the stone ship in an odoriferous ambush. Jaz started retching from the smell,while Kwinsea was stabbed repeatedly by the reptilians' spears.  The rest of the party heard their screams, however, and rushed to assist. In the meantime, Kwinsea used the crystal heart to animate the statue and scurried behind it for protection. Chaff dropped a spore cloud to incapacitate one creature, and then instinct sent two others running into the jungle. Rodrigo blasted one with his fancy new wheel-lock pistol (spraying Jaz with blood and gore in the process), then drew blades to assist Corvus and Jaz in melee. It was too much for the troglodytes, and all were soon cut down with the exception of one that leapt back up onto the ship's deck and melted into the jungle. 

The Egg

After a round of first aid, the party headed back into the ship with their new statue companion, just in time to see Awg levitate over the pool and haul Pahu's body to safety. Everyone then looted the body of useful items, in particular the Terminaxe (Corvus) and the Shark Spear (Awg). Then came the decision; how to best utilize the octo-head statue? One option was to ride it across the pool one at a time, but concerns were raised about how to get out again if sometime untoward happened  to the statue once they were on the other side. So the party decided to just send it into the pool to do battle. Kwinsea ordered it forward, and before it reached halfway to the door on the opposite side of the room, the water started to stir and a quartet of grey, slimy pseudopods burst from the surface to start pounding on the statue. It fought back and landed several blows, but was soon overwhelmed and collapsed into a pile of stony rubble. While, brute force didn't seem to work, so the party called on brute magical force instead. Kwinsea zapped the pool with a lightning bolt, while Jaz used a magic missile and Awg a laser pistol to to put the finhsing touches on the oozy things. The calmonari then used aquatic telepathy to check for other inhabitants, and finding none, led the party into the pool.  The statue in the alcove proved to be another octopus headed humanoid, but this one made of badly corroded iron. The altar was another black stone block like the first, but on top of this one was a large egg made of mother of pearl. As Awg reached for the egg, everyone yelled for him to stop until they were safety out of (potential) harms way on the other side of the new door. Their paranoia was for naught, however, as nothing happened when Awg lifted to egg. 

The room on the other side of the door was dominated by a 20' long boat, built of jungle hardwoods and intricately, but garishly, carved. It sat upon a low stone platform, and behind it in a niche in the wall were three wooden chests carved with similar designs. Rodrigo checked out the boat,  finding it both seaworthy and occupied. Laying in the bottom was a mummified body, dressed in a robe made of bark and wearing a circlet of sea-shells. The swashbuckler carefully lifted the circlet away with the tip of his sword, then gently lifted the robe to see what what underneath it. When he was done, Chaff bullied over and jumped in the boat, hauling the desiccated corpse out of the way and dumping it on the floor in order to better search beneath it for treasures. He found nothing, and the party as a whole turned their attention to the chests. After checking for traps, each was opened in turn. Inside each were 3-4 sets of skeletal human remains, several of which were covered in silver leaf. The silvered skulls were scooped up and dropped in Awg's treasure sack. A kalandrian sight from Chaff revealed nothing in the chamber was magic, although the bulls-eye shield and mother-of-pearl egg glowed magic. Someone then got the idea to move the boat. Everyone lent a hand to lift it up, uncovering an open box below the boat containing oars, sails, and rigging. All of it well-waxed to protect it from the ravages of time, and as result in perfect  condition. But not magical. After a bit of grumbling about cheap burial customs, the parry decided to take the boat with them as their reward. It look a lot of swearing and time to manhandle the heavy and awkward  vessel outside, but in the end they had recovered a new boat for themselves. In the middle of the jungle.

The Boat

Having looted and ransacked the first stone ship, the party moved on to the second. The piles of bones were humanoid, not human, and neatly stacked around the alter. The alter itself was of the same black stone as the other two, but carved in the shape of an overturned dory. There was a small gap between the gunwales and the floor, so Kwinsea coxed a nervous Hermes out of his waterskin to scamper under and have a look. The hermit crab found nothing but stone, and scurried back to safety. On top of the alter sat a giant clam shell filled with tiny bones; fish bones in fact. After various party members poked and prodded at the bones for a bit, Chaff simply tipped the whole shell and contents onto the floor where it smashed into pieces. He then headed over to one of the stone doors and hauled it open. It opened into a room with two raised platforms flanking a passage down the centre, leading into another room just beyond sight. On each platform stood three bronze statues in the form of fishermen or whalers, each holding a wickedly large spear/harpoon. Sensing a trap, the party proceeded cautiously. They first used a rope and grappling hook to try pulling down a statue, but even with their combined strength, it would not budge. Kwinsea cast rope trick to remotely tie up the statues on the right, and Chaff cast web on two out of three on the left. This way they hoped to immobilize the statues and be able to make safe passage. Rodrigo then volunteered to dash down the centre aisle to test the effectiveness of the countermeasures. He made it past the first two guardians, but as he passed the second, the swashbuckler felt a pressure plate 'click' underfoot. The two centre statues sprang to life, the deadly spears slashing down. The one on the webbed side was restrained by Chaff's spell, but the other broke through the rope and drove down at Rodrigo. He dogged out of the way, but in the process stumbled in front of the last pair and received two deep wounds across his back for his trouble. He skidded into the far room, finding himself standing in front of a a huge bronze statue with four sickle-sword wielding arms. Along the walls were suits of bronze plate mail, each paired with a curved sword and intricate pole-arm also made of bronze. At the far end of the room was a large skull carved out of the same black stone as the alters.

Bronze Destroyer

Rodrigo waited for everyone else to arrive before exploring; Chaff, Jaz and Corvus managed to squeeze along behind and over the statues, although the fighter slipped and fell at the very end, landing on the pressure plate and getting stabbed for his trouble. Kwinsea used a scroll of spider climb to scramble over safety, and Awg elected to stay where he was for now and keep Puppy Whuppy company (the dog having been left behind). Kwinsea used the stole of the sacred to cast a bless spell, expecting trouble from the bronze guardian before too much longer. In fact, when Rodrigo walked over to a suit of plate mail and started to carefully lift it off the rack, the great bronze statue animated and the four curved blades slashed out at four different targets. Both Kwinsea and Chaff were nearly eviscerated in the process,and the two squishy mages retreated behind their more heavily armored companions.  Corvus, Rodrigo and Jaz carved great chunks of bronze out of their attacker, and for the most part managed to doge and parry it's blows. All except Jaz, who, moments before Corvus dealt the guardian a death blow, was opened up by two sword blows to the midriff and fell to the floor. The elf managed to survive, however, thanks to Kwinsea rushing over an binding her wounds as soon as the fighting stopped ...



TOTAL XP
3022

GAINS
Intricately, but garishly, carved wooded boat (3000gp)
Circlet of shells (50gp)
4 Silvered skulls (25gp each)
Mother of Pearl Egg

KILLS

4 Troglodytes
4 Grey Oozes
1 Bronze Destroyer

LOSSES

Octo-head Statue
Jaz (temporarily)