The Tomb of Menetnashte
August 29th, 761, 10:00 AM; Day 165 of the Menetnashte Expedition
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The water wasn’t terribly cold, but the sudden immersion sent a shock through your spine. You could feel the inexorable force of the water dragging you down, pulling you into the sudden darkness. The chains of Kali’s temple wrapped around you as you plunged into them, tangling you up in them even as the water pushed on you from above. The pressure was incredible, yet the chains were unyeilding - unable to go either up or down, you hung there in the blackness, your lungs burning as the air ran out...
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Charles Martel found himself obliged to straighten out his cuff sleeves where he sat
-absolutely drenched, honestly, how did that manage to come about- and do his best to make himself presentable. It really wouldn’t do to look out of place at a time like this. The world danced around him, pirouetting in a flash of pearls and satin. The ballroom floor shone with its fresh polish, reflecting the elegant dancers as they waltzed upon it, clad in brilliant green. Others, decked in blue and red, watched the dazzling show from the sides; some of the younger couples stared coyly at each other, approaching and retreating in a strange dance of their own. Glass chandeliers hung from the ceiling, light glinting through them like sparkling rainbows, bathing the walls resplendently in gold
-though whomever decorated the place ought to be sacked, those pictures scrawled all over didn’t add to the atmosphere at all- and shining out into the night. There was a reason Port-a-Lucine was called the jewel of Dementlieu, obvious to those who danced here tonight - the floor was ebony, the walls gold, the chandeliers diamonds, with emerald, sapphire, and ruby dancers inlaid upon them.
Charles finished his adjustments, settling himself upon his seat and looking at the sheet music in front of him. He couldn’t help but run his hands across the ivory keys of the grand piano
-piano? He wasn’t much of a piano player- before setting his fingers to the notes and beginning to play. The masked dancers moved in time with his melody, gliding across the floor with a grace that made it seem like they were walking on air.
One of the piano keys was silent when he hit it...
Odd. Charles continued to play, striking the key once more. No note sprang forth. The key was dead, as dead as... as...
Charles felt an agonizing pain in his arm, shooting up through his chest until it reached his heart. The ambassador’s son wasn’t even able to struggle as the agony sawed his body in half. Some terrible force kept him chained to where he sat, his fingers forced against the keys even as his blood boiled. The stone heart in his pocket seemed to glow hot in response to his torment - part of it beating erratically, the other half ominously silent.
Charles heard himself gasp as the pain subsided. He was sitting on an Akiri funeral bier, decorated to have the head, paws, and tail of a great spotted cat. The walls around him crawled with Akiri hieroglyphs that seemed to shift as he looked at them. Thin, razor sharp wires were threaded through his arms and fingers, with blood dripping down them like ruby beads, forcing his hands along the horrible haunting
melody. The kris, unseen, keened in harmony with that terrible song, the dead key sending a jarring note of silence through the room whenever it was played. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another feline stalking up behind him; a tilt of the head, and he could see it was a statue, nothing more... not as large as the Smilers, but still a lean and deadly looking creature. The great cats were scattered about the floor, each one with cartouches carved upon their chests in Ancient Akiri writing:
- "She Who Runs Swiftly".
"Slayer of Serpents".
"The Pharaoh's Justice".
All around him, the dancers continued their inexorable waltz, the mindless, whirling automatons strung to the ceiling with wires much like Charles’. They were porcelain marionettes, the painted masks and gilded costume revealing lifeless, empty eyes beneath, dragged along only by the myriad of strings. The silver wires glittered in the chandelier light, crossing and uncrossing in scintillating patterns as the dance continued, promising to entangle anyone who drew too near. On the sidelines swung other marionettes, clad in blue, the place where their faces should have been scooped out and hollow - lightning shot forth from the empty void, flying through the air until it entered the face of another. Scarlet-dressed mannequins twirled slowly across the dance floor, moving with no sign of pattern or purpose. All among these macabre dancers hung Charles’ comrades, strung from the ceiling on bloody wires, the glittering chains of silver running through their hands.
And there were other, individual mannequins, laying silent and unfinished on the chairs that lined the room. Most were missing a few parts here and there, limbs, legs, arms, heads, but generally held no particular interest. Yet a few of them seemed to stand out. One, sitting next to Andre, wore a bright purple coat, its painted violet-eyes dull and unseeing. There was one slumped, forlorn and abandoned, in chairs near where Lia hung; it was missing so many parts it was barely recognizable, but something in its sable wardrobe and the square-rimmed glasses upon its chest sparked a chord of familiarity. And there was one, all in green, that Charles knew all too well - it was nothing more than a dead porcelain doll, and yet it was hard to shake how
real those graceful hands, those pointed ears, those curved lips looked, lying lifeless upon the floor.
Harris groaned slightly as he dangled from strings that held him, his great weight causing the wires to cut deeply into his flesh. “Is everyone here?” he asked softly, his eyes clouded with pain. The guardsman looked around, searching for the others, his eyes falling upon the doorways that lay behind him. There were two. One, a pair of double doors, looked to be the exit from this steel and satin nightmare. Another, a small, open door that led into a side room, was a mystery. From where you all stood, you couldn’t see what was within.
“Professor Devereux!” Edmund called out. The professor was staring through the open doorway, his face as pale as his porcelain double. Devereux began to kick and struggle, trying his best to tear himself away from the hidden room, the strings mangling his arms as he squirmed in their grasp. Harris watched in horror, craning his neck to catch a glimpse of what lurked through the door. His eyes went wide. Edmund yanked his arm straight through his strings, the razor wire devastating his arm, even as half of Charles’ stone heart began to pulse out a silent warning.
Something was coming.
Objective: Escape through the double doors at the top of the ballroom.
Devereux tries feebly to escape and fails.
Edmund yanks one of his arms free, taking four strength damage.
PCs:
Kuzan: 89/89 HP, Restrained, Darkvision, Greater Resistance
Lia: 60/46 HP, Restrained , False Life (14 bonus hitpoints), Superior Resistance, Greater Mage Armor
Tomas: 107/107 HP, Restrained
Charles: 63/63 HP, Restrained
Otto: 62/62 HP, Restrained
Andre: 35/35 HP, Restrained
Sascha: 101/101 HP, Restrained
NPCs:
Harris: 115/115 HP, Restrained (half-free), -4 strength
Devereux: 33/33 HP, Restrained
For all purposes, the room is 20 ft tall. Chairs, cheetah statues, and the funeral bier are three feet high and can be moved onto normally. The piano is five feet high and can be moved onto with an extra 5 squares of movement.
Restrained: You are bound to the ceiling with silvery razor wire. While you are restrained, you cannot move, make attacks, or cast spells with somatic components. As a move action, you may attempt a Strength Check (DC 13) that deals 1d4 Strength damage to the person strung up if successful, with no damage being dealt on a failed attempt. You may also attempt a DC 25 Escape artist, Heal, or Disable device check that inflicts no penalty. It takes two successful checks to get down. Freed PCs may attempt checks for an adjacent person who is still restrained, or attack the wires with a slashing weapon (AC 13) twice to get them down.
All Marionettes: Razor sharp strings are extending from the marionettes into the darkness that passes for the ceiling. These are objects, not enemies, meaning you may choose to move through them as if they were allied. However, any PC passing through their square will take damage from the strings. This effect extends all the way to the ceiling.
Green Marionettes: Any square that has two green dancers adjacent to it will deal damage to anyone entering that square. This effect extends all the way to the ceiling. These dancers appear to be moving slowly.
Blue Marionettes: Each pair of blue dancers has lightning coursing between them, 5ft above the ground. PCs can attempt to jump over the lightning (DC 20 with 20ft running start, otherwise DC 40) or tumble under it (DC 25). The are moving at a moderate pace.
Red Marionettes: These dancers appear to be moving slowly.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
