SPHINX SAFARI
Fun Run on September 1, 2008; John Webster GM
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Dramatis
Personae:
Kira - Rowan: 15th as Ranger 10th & Divine Archer 5th
Jen - Darred: 15th as Rogue & Wizard & ?
Patrick - Glendon: 15th as Sorcerer & Monk
Bee - Eilyssandra: Druid 15th
Doug - "Bob, Mark 1.0": Fighter 15th
Frank - Tarva - 12th as Fighter 6th, Bard 4th, Celestial "2nd"
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We come over a rise and see, in the valley below us,
about 300'
away, a large stone sphinx, with a much smaller 'creature' resting
between the statue's front legs. Glendon goes invisible and sets
off
to slowly, noiselessly, investigate, while the rest of us spread out a
bit (to minimize the damage from a single fireball).
Glendon gets close enough to see that the creature
between the
statue's legs is indeed a real sphinx. He comes back (slowly and
quietly) and tells us this. Tarva has a vague Bardic Knowledge
remembrance of a tale of Khubsheth, a Sphinx Prophet who is said to be
waiting - although he apparently has never told anyone what he is
waiting for. Those with good Nature Knowledge recognize that this
is
an Androsphinx: male and uniformly Chaotic Good. Since
golden-skinned
half-Celestials are also uniformly Chaotic Good, and Tarva figured the
sphinx would know that and also figure out 'what' Tarva was, she
offered to go talk with him. Especially since meanwhile the
Sphinx has
suddenly muttered something and grown from Large to Gargantuan in size
(!). So everyone puts their weapons up, most of the rest of the
party
stay at the (was 300', is now suddenly only 270') distance, and Tarva
double-times it (not a run at, but a clear attempt to not dwaddle) to
within 30' of the Sphinx, executes a respectful bow, and says,
"Greatings, Oh Sphinx." [She figures she can get more specific,
like
exchanging names, checking for mutual friends, etc., after getting
everything off to a polite start.]
But: "You are one who I have been waiting for." the
Sphinx <ungrammatically> roars,
and then swats Tarva with a large taloned paw. Ouch.
(Surprise round,
obviously).
Initiatives rolled (and we explained to Doug about
"going first in
the second round";-). Tarva draws Heart's
Reach while charging (the Sphinx has a reach of 30': there is
absolutely no reason to stay out there and not be able to hit back),
and begins to sing Inspire
Greatness, which she applies to Heart's Reach.
The rest of the group came charging down
to rescue her. Rowan
stopped a ways back and started hitting with arrow after arrow.
Bob
charged and started whacking with his Monkey-Gripped weapons for huge
amounds of damage. Glendon risked AoOs from the Sphinx by trying
to
flank with one of us. Eilyssandra was casting spells, while
carefully
not also hitting those engaged in melee. And HR wasn't exactly
wimping
out. The Sphinx roared, and many people failed their save vs fear
and
had to flee for a round, then came back. He cast a spell and
swarms of
locust descended on Bob and Tarva, with more swarms behind them waiting
to get at us. Darred cast Fireball on the swarms,
affecting Bob and
Tarva also, but getting rid of the swarms while we concentrated on the
Sphinx. He roared again, and everyone who didn't save was
paralized;
everyone who was too close was deafened (save or not). And then
his HP
dropped below zero, he shrunk back to merely Large, and as he was dying
recited a poem (which only Rowan could hear):
Poison Pride once broke our pact:
We bound the Deathless and buried deep
To wait for Shadow's Bane.
Two legs now walk where four legs failed
And Khubsheth's blood will break the Seal;
The Cursed One waits within.
The Prophet's slayers are bound by fate
To pass the test, complete our task,
And break Ankharet's Crown.
Meanwhile, Tarva is hearing, inside her head,
"You've been assigned
a quest: 'Destroy the Sphinx Queen Ankharat and her evil crown."
And behind Khubsheth - for we're assuming this
is he - a door appears and opens in the base of the Sphinx statue.
After everyone recovers from paralization and
deafness we discuss
all of this. Glendon sensibly collects a beaker of blood from
Khubsheth's body. Others believe that the reference was to his
death,
and that the now open door is the "broken Seal". We also conclude
that
we now know what it was Khubsheth had been waiting for all this time:
some group that will take over and finish correcting the Sphinx
civilization's prideful mistake, since the Sphinxes could not
accomplish that themselves.
Tarva has been quested, and thus must go in
-- not that she
wouldn't have, anyway. There's some kidding about "good luck" and
"write when you get back", but everyone goes in together.
Inside we find a large room with murals along the
long (north and
south) walls; two rows of columns (which only go up 10' towards the 40'
ceiling), four each, spaced along the room; colored tiles on the floor,
and ornate doors at the far (west) end. The north mural is a
history
of the ascension of the Sphinx civilization, including its conquering
other races. The south shows a lineage terminating with a Sphinx
wearing a noticably different style of crown, and with - in Common! -
the name "Ankharet" under it (her). Darred is concerned that the
colored floor tiles might be indications of traps, and is checking them
out. Tarva, looking at the floor, suddenly blurts out, "It's
writing.
In Sphinx. It says, 'When the Sphinx Queen faces west, the time
to
enter the tomb is best.'" And then, "But I don't know Sphinx."
Those examining the columns discover that there are
four large
letters on each, in each cardinal direction. Some thought and we
figure out that there is a single ordering of the columns which will
let us spell out Ankharad's name. Bob can't rotate the columns
himself, but Eilyssandra turns into a bear, and he then helps her
rotate each column until the appropriate letters face west.
We go up to the ornate doors, and Darred
checks them for traps.
Immediately a 30' wide pit trap opens up, catching Tarva, Rowan, and
Bob, who all fall (or tumble) 100' and take more damage ("more" because
we'd forgotten to get healed from the fight with Khubsheth).
Rowan and
Tarva both get out Cure
Light wands and start bringing the three of us
back to full health. Oh, and we notice that there is a door down here.
Up above, there is much consternation. As Darred gets a rope out to
drop to us, the pit closes. Darred repeats what he did before, the pit
opens, Glendon climbs down the rope, Elyssandra turns herself and Shea
into birds and they fly down, Darred drops the rope and uses his
batcloak to also fly down. Above us, the pit closes again.
Going through the door (no traps, not locked)
we find ourselves in
another long east-west room with 40' ceiling. Along the north and south
sides there are ten -- five per side -- 5' high stone platforms, with
what seems to be a statue of a sphinx on each. The first (eastmost)
four on each side are Hieracosphinxes: falcon-headed and always chaotic
evil. The remaining two are Criosphinxes: ram-headed and always
neutral. [It says here.;-] Tarva casts Detect Evil and gets a
noticable, but not huge, 'yes' from all the sphinxes within her range.
With that as a clue, Glendon casts Magic Circle Against Evil,
and we
crowd around him to walk through to the west wall door.
We've almost made it, when all ten of the
sphinxes come down off
their platforms and attack. Much mayhem ensues, especially as four of
the sphinxes take turns, two and two, using Flyby Attack to try and hit
those already too crowded to otherwise be approachable by more
foes.
The Magic Circle Against
Evil several times provides just enough
additional protection that what would otherwise have been a hit on one
of us turns into a miss instead. It turns out that they are
especially
vulnerable to fire attacks, so Fireball spells are
used on the flying
ones, HR becomes a flaming sword, everyone whacks or spells away, and
shortly they are all dead.
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And that's where the run has paused.