[Chapter 9] The Parched Dunes

Tabat swings his weapon at the Lamia now that he is upon it!

Iseret changes tactics, targeting the lamia.

Tabat readies himself, gesturing with his mighty weapon. "I shall smite you, wicked creature, and you shall trouble the living no longer!" He let's out a battle-cry and lays into it with the heavy flail. Andromeda moves in and attacks one of the nearby cultists, biting at it with her teeth.

Selquet unleashes his flourishing and drives the lamia into a sudden regret, driving his blades into unprotected areas. (42 damage).

Iseret fires an arrow into the melee but it bounces off her scales.

Tabat's Holly furor is devastating, rocking her nearly onto her tail. (100 damage)

Andromeda begins biting a cultist.(AC 18, one hit, 22 damage)

The lamia collapses under the combined assault of the Destined Delivers, her body brutalized by the variety of attacks.

On the bridge, high above the valley floor, the last two remaining cultists choose death, leaping and falling on their heads with a manic fervor crunched short.

Combat is over.

On her corpse, you find:

locust cuirass (+2 lamellar cuirass, UE page 58),
+1 cruel longspear,
composite shortbow (+4 Str) with 20 arrows,
mwk thieves’ tools,
gold funerary mask (worth 100 gp)

There's also a tent near the base of the pyramid that you suspect is hers.

Jamirah’s tent is crammed with objects, but among the dates, smoked snake meat, waterskins, copper pots, and piles of cushions are boots of elvenkind, a silver kettle worth 200 gp, two bottles of luxuriant perfume worth 100 gp each, and a magnificent silver-and-gold teacup inlaid with obsidians worth 300 gp. In addition, the tent contains three large chests taken from Chisisek’s tomb. A character who examines the chests notices that the chests were trapped with hail of arrows traps that have already been triggered. The chests are crammed with coinage from Ancient Osirion, totaling 943 pp, 2,806 gp, 4,012 sp, and 6,308 cp.

The Six cultists each have the following gear:

potion of heroism, scrolls of magic missile (2), scrolls of magic weapon (2); studded leather, +1 heavy crossbow with 20 bolts, mwk falchion, cloak of resistance +1, gilt wooden funerary mask (worth 25 gp), 23 g

The giant had the following gear:

2 large masterwork scimitars, lathe leather armor, 450 GP.

For ways to go forward, you see three possibilities:

1) An entrance to a structure, mainly into the hill side, near where you fought the giant.

2) An entrance tunneled into the pyramid near where you fought the lamia.

3) The canyon continues west and then north, narrowing as it goes.

Tabat makes a middling effort of cleaning the lamia's viscera from his weapon, then checks on Andromeda and the others to make sure they are well. "I have a feeling the pyramid is where we'll need to go, but I'd like to inspect the structure near where the giant toppled first. It could have been used as a staging ground for their operation here and may contain clues." He mounts Andromeda. "Join if you'd like, or otherwise I will return swiftly."

Tabat rides over to check out the other opening, and inside finds that it looks like a temple dug into the cliffs. Carved sandstone pillars rise to a celing in hieroglyphics. A large, circular opening in the center of the ceiling (20' high) leads to a space above. There are three exits from the main temple chamber room, and there appears to be a gynosphinx trapped behind magical force barrier in the back chamber. Two lamia torment her while a cultist keeps watch from an archway. His eyes go wide as he sees Andromeda and Tabat approach the entrance close enough to see inside from the brighter outdoors.